Mass Effect 4: Flashpoint
by GhostWriter83
Summary: In a chaotic post-war galaxy hatred, guilt and devotion still endure as everyone struggles to rebuild the once besieged worlds and the mass relay network. In the aftermath of the devastating star-spanning Reaper War where decisions had far reaching consequences, adversaries emerge bent on exploiting the chaos to find a path to secure their own power.
1. Prologue - Smoke and Mirrors

Captain Aekol Tolan was thankful for the sealed helmet and armor as the desert wind whipped against him, the fine dust whirled across the plains and the heath from the sun shimmered in the distance where mountains loomed.

To anyone around him, Tolan appeared bored as he kicked a small rock with his boot, but years of training and actual combat had fine tuned his situational awareness and he had his eyes constantly searching for threats. He glanced to the upper left of his head-up display across the visor where a small window was receiving real time high resolution thermal footage from a small drone a few thousand meters above him, it's sensors was zoomed in by a UAV operator back aboard the ship in orbit who reported all heat signatures accounted for with no party crashers. With the blink of his eyes he closed the UAV screen.

Tolan's Elanus Risk Control Services M15 Vindicator assault rifle – a weapon favored by mercenaries – dangled across the webbing of ammunition and utility pouches on his armor, it was hooked up to a durable tactical sling underneath the webbing's shoulder straps. His armor did have magnetic strips on the back and hips for weapon carriage, but with the rifle's sling mount on the rear of the weapon's upper receiver he could let it rest across his chest while his hands were free, thus he could quickly reach for the rifle, detach it if need be, and engage a target.

The salarian gazed across the rocky desert, Tuchanka was a very unwelcoming place in the galaxy, and he hated the planet with fervor.

This was not the first time he had been there, the last time was shortly before the Reaper War when he, as a Lieutenant, had been part of Major Kirrahe's team from the Special Tasks Group. They had been on a covert expedition and found several krogan females in dire state after surviving experiments by a former STG colleague of theirs, Maelon Heplorn. The Major had decided to evacuate the females back to Sur'Kesh, despite the protests from Tolan and several other officers who had all called it madness, the krogan females had been cured, and they had to be euthanized so nobody could learn about the genophage cure.

Kirrahe had balked and ignored the complaints, and to Tolan's dismay a few rogue officers supported Kirrahe. Even some officers and chief scientists in the Salarian Strategic Command agreed with Kirrahe, and chief among them had been the traitor Mordin Solus. And so it was decided that the females would be cared for, although over the next several months most of them died.

 _Too bad the last one didn't die. If she had died then maybe I wouldn't be standing in the desert._

One saving grace was that it would take a long time before the genophage cure would take effect with new generations of newborn, and only those krogan who had been exposed to the cure on Tuchanka would be cured, anybody else would still be affected by the genophage. But there were still two billion threats on Tuchanka, and that number would only increase.

At least Kirrahe had died ten months earlier on Earth in the final hours of the war, helping his precious humans.

Good riddance.

Looking back, Tolan saw the undoing of all the work his people had put into keeping the krogan in check after the Krogan Rebellions. It had almost been the undoing of the Salarian Union as well when the turians and humans were scrambling to face the Reapers with the krogan at their side. A cured krogan would threaten the galaxy's stability, and the Salarian Union needed time to grow strong again to combat the threat.

But there were dissent amongst the krogan clans, and although many clans and most females had joined under Urdnot Wrex, there were clans that were fuming with anger towards Urdnot Wrex. These brutes felt that the humans and turians had stabbed the krogan in the back because the genophage cure was not a instant cure, and many wanted their females back, and some wanted to fight the Citadel Council, and then there were those that felt that Urdnot Wrex was a traitor as he had worked with humans, turians and a salarian to establish himself as the one ruler of Tuchanka.

It was this dissent that Captain Tolan was going to inflame to keep the krogan in check.

It was why he was standing in the desert with his men, dressed and kitted up like mercenaries meeting with a handful of ugly krogan from Clan Jurdon. The temptation to kill the brutes was almost too much to bear for Tolan with his already miserable state.

Twenty meters away the leader, Jurdon Tudrax in his battered and brownish armor with ancient war scribbling etched into it, appeared pretty upset, arms flailing and saliva spitting as he ranted while one of Tolan's men, Sergeant Paks, was negotiating fluently in the brute's guttural and disgusting language. Although with a translator anybody could have talked with the krogan.

Tolan noted that Jurdon Tudrax didn't wear a helmet despite the harsh winds. Durable beasts, and Tolan only saw them viable as expendable shock troops.

Scattered some ways behind Tudrax were a few boxy krogan armored vehicles and armed krogan.

When an over two meter tall and 200 kilo krogan ranted the situation could get out of hand pretty quickly. During any other situation Tolan wouldn't have said no to killing the krogan, but despite his feelings about this he needed this to go smoothly to appease the Salarian Strategic Command – all those traitors of the past had been replaced after the war as the old STRATCOM had been wiped out when the Reapers had assaulted Sur'Kesh.

But Tolan was ready to drop the krogan if need be.

So were his men.

Tolan and the dozen salarian STG operators under his command, and a few asari and batarian mercenaries that were there to make the 'mercenary group' more diverse, communicated by sending messages across their secure communication channel to keep any radio chatter at a minimum. By using his pupils and blinking of eye lids, Tolan could navigate his HUD and integrated omni-tool, and access systems, bring up map overlays and compass and other necessary systems by looking at the desired icons, and he could also quickly compose a message on his HUD and send it across their channel. On a small screen on the HUD the messages appeared.

Everybody was ready to engage if need be.

Tolan placed one arm on the end of the buttstock of his rifle which was chest level and let the arm rest as he glanced over his shoulder to their dropship where a few more asari lingered near the lowered cargo bay door. The dropship was a large and somewhat flat with four main engines mounted in pairs, with two in the rear and one on each side of the airframe which could articulate independently and vector the direction of thrust. Six thrusters were mounted across the belly which allowed it to land and take off vertically.

The asari and the batarians were hired thugs and didn't know that Tolan and his men were from the STG, even the ship they had arrived in was a nondescript and old warship of the likes mercenaries used. Once their mission was done Tolan would have the mercenaries executed to preserve the mission's operational security.

"Paks' is coming back," one STG operator radioed.

Tolan's attention was brought back and he turned to face Pak who crossed the sandy soil back to Tolan.

"He wants a word with you, sir," Paks said over the secure radio as he stopped near Tolan.

Tolan rolled his eyes disgusted behind the darkened visor. Now he had to talk to one of them.

"Any progress?" Tolan inquired.

Pak's said pleased, "Yes, very much. It's just some sort of honor thing to finalize the deal with the one in charge. He's fairly devout to their cause, a fundamentalist and he abides to their old ways of honor and all that. He's very, and I do mean very, slighted by Urdnot Wrex who has brought shame to the krogan people and shall be eviscerated, and etcetera."

"That's why he ranted?"

"Yeah," Paks nodded. "Plus he's hates our kind and it's beneath him to do deals with salarians." Paks shrugged queasy regarding the krogan spit on him, "Thankfully I have a helmet on. Will have to do a full decontamination later."

 _It's beneath me to even consider talking to a krogan_ , Tolan mused displeased. Tolan saw the spit on Pak's visor and frowned abhorred.

Tolan let his arm rest by his side now and he inquired, "He does have a translator, yes?"

"He does." Paks urged, "Don't keep him waiting."

"Approaching krogan, be ready, people," Tolan radioed as he approached the krogan and with a blink of his eye he activated his voice module as he steeled himself to not kill the brute.

Salarians were much shorter and smaller than krogan and Jurdon Tudrax hovered over Tolan. Jurdon Tudrax frowned hateful, his black pupils were piercing and the nostrils flared. Tudrax was sniffing, taking in Tolan's scent.

 _Disgusting beasts,_ Tolan thought repulsed. He made sure that the olfactory filter was closed. He couldn't stand krogan leathery scent.

Ten months after the war and the mass relay system was barely repaired by so called joint-Council 'Pathfinder teams', which were small flotillas of maintenance ships that traversed the galaxy to repair mass relays, but the focus was first and foremost on primary relays, homeworld relays and larger colony relays, but the Milky Way was slowly connecting again. The main reason for the slow repair was that with no mass relays active, the Pathfinder Teams had to be creative in travel; jumping from nearby system to system or using uncharted pirate routes to uninhabited systems which pirates and mercenaries used to stay of the grid while smuggling and attacking with impunity – if one knew where to find these routes of course. Looking for a specific place in an area of dozens of light years where it could be hundreds of star systems required extensive searching. An unfortunate side effect from the relays propagating the Crucible blast was that massive disturbances had been created in the mass-free pathways between relays, and thus relay travel speed had been lowered by half.

The short but devastating and bloody war had killed tens of billions, and due to shortages of food, healthcare and supplies many more were projected to die. Many people lived in appalling conditions, and many worlds were still isolated with the majority of the mass relay network down. It was in this environment where pirates and mercenaries thrived in a destabilized galaxy. An environment where a thriving black market could get you anything as military resources were scattered, and everyone wanted to get their hands on military technology or even Reaper technology. Now, STRATCOM wasn't going to give Reaper technology to the krogan (although by all accounts Urdnot Wrex and other krogan did have access to Reaper technology after the Battle of Tuchanka, but the salarians didn't want to aid ANY krogan with reverse engineering Reaper technology), but the salarian planners did believe they could give the opposing clans something they sorely lacked.

Tuchanka was a world filled to the brim with small arms, tanks, Infantry Fighting Vehicles, weapons of mass destruction and anything else made for war.

But Tolan wasn't peddling weapons because the krogan didn't need that, but they lacked something most of the galaxy's militaries had.

Warships.

Over a thousand years of being under Citadel Council sanctions and Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission enforcements made acquiring starship-mounted weapons impossible for the krogan on Tuchanka. But with no CDEM presence and the Citadel Council species focusing on rebuilding, and with a destabilized Milky Way, the Aralakh System was freer and thus the insurgent clans could acquire whatever weapons they wanted.

Sure, anybody could program a civilian starship VI to smash into a planet and wreck unimaginable havoc and death, but you would lose a valuable ship and planetary infrastructure. And with a warship armed to the teeth with missiles, torpedoes, orbital kinetic bombardment satellites and mass accelerator cannons, someone could lie in orbit and lay waste to their enemy in precision bombardments.

"Vaerhum Ielon," Tolan introduced himself neutrally.

Tudrax scrutinized the salarian and barked, "My enemy has no honor colluding with the enemy."

 _Yet here you are,_ Tolan thought amused to himself.

"Urdnot Wrex has deceived us for his own gain, deceiving us that this concoction _may_ cure the krogan people in the future. Honor demands that Wrex shall die at the battlefield," Tudrax thundered menacingly. A mist of saliva erupted form Tudrax mouth, "The krogan have been thralls in the past to the pitiful Citadel races, and we shall never be thralls again, yet the traitor follows the humans and the turians. Wrex corrupts us and I shall set us free."

 _A fundamentalist, indeed,_ Tolan noted gleeful but appeared unfazed, _yes, we can do business together._

Tudrax leaned down to Tolan, pressing his face close to the helmed salarian and asked threateningly, "I know my cause. What's your cause, salarian?"

"Reaper tech, we can sell it to interesting parties and make a lot of credits," Tolan simply said without flinching, yet the brute's piercing eyes and menace was unsettling. "How do you want to kill your foe?"

Tudrax snorted, "Wrex has gone into agreement with the turians and humans. A deal for them to make warships."

Behind the visor Tolan grimaced annoyed, this was what the new Dalatrass – Jaëlorn – was concerned about. Dalatrass Jaëlorn had replaced Dalatras Linron who had sadly disappeared during the Reaper siege of Sur'Kesh, and nobody knew the fate of the patriotic Linron, but she had most likely been killed or turned into a husk.

The Alliance and the Hierarchy was getting to comfortable with Urdnot Wrex, they were even pushing for a krogan ambassador, something the asari, but more so the salarians, were not enthusiastic about as it would further legitimize Urdnot Wrex. Fleet Admiral Hackett had even said weeks earlier that a stable Krogan Empire was one of the most important goals for the Alliance and that the krogan insurrectionists were 'enemies of humanity.' At least it would take a year or two before the first ships could be delivered to Urdnot Wrex, and krogans had to be trained in ship operations as well.

"We have no ships, but we have our honor and will bring it into battle," Tudrax ranted with conviction.

 _Yes, yes, honor will do much against a mass accelerator cannon,_ Tolan thought dismissively.

"We have ships we're willing to sell," Tolan said. "Scavenged from battlefields."

"Why?" Tudrax asked suspicious.

"We're betting on you as a future market for us, upsetting or even toppling the Krogan Empire will shift the balance for the Alliance, stretching their resources further, a freer market," Tolan replied coolly. "We don't need to be friends, credits are still credits."

Tolan sprinkled the deceit with some truth.

Tudrax made a guttural sound and considered Tolan, "Discretion is necessary, some of my allies will not understand why I'm talking to soft salarians and asari so soon after Wrex's treason."

"Indeed, but this is just credits," Tolan shrugged. "If I believed Urdnot Wrex was flexible I would do business with him, but he wants his ship purchases to be legal."

Tudrax chuckled guttural, "You mercenaries only care about credits."

"You know our line of work," Tolan replied indifferent.

"It's a deal, salarian," Tudrax finally said.

"I'll be in touch very soon," Tolan smiled satisfied behind the visor.

The krogan insurrection would take a new turn.

* * *

The bright morning light peered through the half open window blinds covering the massive window which took up almost the entire office's wall. Beyond the thick security window laid the asari homeworld Thessia's capitol, Serrice. Thessia had once been the crown jewel of the Asari Republics – some even said the galaxy, and many asari in power held that belief. The real seat of galactic power had been Serrice for thousands of years, the Citadel had been window dressing as the asari Councilor answered directly to the Circle – the legislature of the Asari Republics.

Now Thessia, and many asari worlds like her, was in ruins after it had been wrecked by the Reapers during the Battle of Thessia – and even friendly fire had hit the city as the massive mass accelerator rounds fired by the Republic's ships had missed its intended targets. One tactic the Reapers relied on during the war was to position themselves so the world being contested about was behind them, thus any ship firing had to take account to the risk of hitting the planet, or maneuver for a better firing position and thus delaying a attack. A MAC-round could deliver an awful amount of devastation.

Matriarch Hypatia sat at her office desk, it was clean and void of unnecessary items sans an exquisite table light, her personal datapad, and her computer with a flat screen displaying a news feed which she gave a cursory glance while gritting her teeth troubled.

Hypatia had a teal complexion, which was a rarity amongst asari, and her face was adorned with a colorful pattern. She wore white and revealing Matriarch robes, as the sexually compelling features of asari proved useful when dealing with the other races – even if the Matriarchs of the Circle rarely did so. But Hypatia, like some asari, took pride and reveled in their sexuality.

She had been a Matriarch with the Circle for 223 years, and at 926 years old she was the oldest serving sister, and the only one that had survived the war as she had been on the Citadel when the Reapers attacked Thessia, and after the attack on the Asari Republics she and her entourage had left for a undisclosed location in asari space from where the Asari High Command supervised their military. Nineteen of her beloved sisters had been killed by the machines, and she still mourned them as she had known them all for centuries. She had since repopulated the Circle with new Matriarchs, loyal to the Asari Republics, and thus the Circle would once again be vigilante and protect asari interests. The fact of the matter was that her race was far superior in every way making carefully laid plans, pushing for diplomacy and cultural superiority over the primitive and warlike ways of turians and humans.

A stroke of fate had ensured her survival when she had been forced to set up a meeting with a human on the Citadel.

And that human had been Staff Commander John Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy. The first human Spectre – and it irked her that more of that troublesome race had been invited to join the Spectres as the war had thinned their ranks considerably. Just like the turians, the humans were a brash, narrow minded, primitive, childlike and warmongering race. Hypatia had no lost love for the humans, and especially no love for Shepard.

The Circle had been forced to reach out to the humans as the war got closer and closer to asari space while human and turian fleets were being hammered. The asari belief that no matter how dark and bloody the galaxy got, the asari people would survive and remain untouchable had slowly been shattered. Merely contributing with money and researchers for the Crucible wasn't going to be enough. For the first time in history, the wisest and most powerful race in the galaxy was utterly outmatched in every possible way; their homeworld had never been threatened before. Their forces were quickly ordered to rally around important asari worlds – leaving their vassals, the elcor, defenseless. It had been a necessary evil to protect the Asari Republics. Despite her best efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations with the elcor it was futile. The vassal race didn't trust the Asari Republics, and the elcor were now seeking shelter amongst the turians who had gladly accepted them into the Hierarchy as vassals. Hypatia was fuming inside.

During the meeting with Shepard, Hypatia had disclosed the existence of the prothean artifact at the Temple of Athame in Serrice, a prothean beacon like the one found on Eden Prime in 2183. Prothean technology had been the source of the asari dominance, and the secrets held in the beacon had helped the allies to finally complete the Crucible, but with the asari secret revealed all remaining goodwill the asari wielded was utterly destroyed after the war.

Hypatia's primary goal had always been to preserve the Asari Republics and their secrets, in doing so peace would be ensured across space, no matter the suffering elsewhere. The other species' survivors didn't see it like that and directed their grief and anger as racial hate towards the asari, there had already been several innocent asari murdered by war survivors.

 _Petulant children,_ Hypatia sneered angrily.

No matter, she was a patient asari, she would ensure the asari would rise above the rest once more.

For thousands of years the turians had been a very useful race for the asari to wield – when the military option was needed the Hierarchy had been a good but blunt instrument. She had hoped that she could have used the humans to the same effect, and decades earlier they had proved to potentially be that perfect blunt instrument as they had aggressively – with Council approval (in reality Circle approval) – expanded into regions once belonging to the Attican Traverse, further expanding the reaches of the Citadel Council influence – and thus the Asari Republics.

In retrospect she should have seen the human chaos coming back then.

In a twisted turn of fate the unpredictable and chaotic humans – with Shepard at the helm – destroyed the asari carefully laid plans. When Shepard claimed that one of the Circle's own, Matriarch Benezia, had been swayed by the brutish turian Spectre Saren Arterius, the Circle had believed it was pure ranting and lies by Shepard, there was no way a turian could hold any power of a asari, let alone a Matriarch of the Circle. But sadly that was hubris on their part when all that turned to be true as the Reaper Sovereign attempted to use subterfuge to destroy the civilization over four years earlier. Terror had been averted, but only by the humans actions which had come at a high cost with the then current Council having been sacrificed.

It was apparent to the Circle that the humans had used the Battle of the Citadel for their own gain to acquire incredible political power, all thanks to Shepard who was a glory seeker out to put humanity on top with a seat on the Council. The humans were a self-absorbed race, seeking the quickest way to solve a problem, seeking to dominate through military might. The humans were like children just expecting to be handed everything just because they wanted it. And like any children they wanted unlimited freedom and power to do as they saw fit without caring about the grander consequences.

Shepard soon beca,e a target for the Circle, his powers grew as he had contacts with turians, salarians, krogan and his fellow humans. Something had to be done to undo the damage done by Shepard, because the Circle were out of the loop with him. He was ruining their plans with his rash and incredible actions. And only Benezia's daughter, Liara T'Soni, represented the asari, and she was loyal to the human and could not be used to control Shepard. T'Soni later become an information broker associating with all manners of unsavory people, and years later when she usurped the Shadow Broker network with the help of Shepard it caused panic in the Circle – she was almost as rash and unpredictable as Shepard and they could not trust her.

The Matriarchs had not been willing to let Shepard go on unchecked. All manners of scenarios were discussed on how to deal with Shepard, from actual assassination to character assassination. But as luck would have it they didn't need to do a thing when the original Normandy warship was destroyed one month after the Battle of the Citadel in a Collector attack and Shepard was presumed dead, which was a blessing as the Circle could repair the damage and keep the humans at bay. But two years later Shepard returned having joined the human terrorist group Cerberus! It was evident that the human would do anything to dethrone thousands of years of stability. Eventually Shepard turned himself to the Alliance and gave his reasons for colluding with Cerberus – protecting human settlers and stopping the Reapers' pawns the Collectors. And even the Matriarchs had to confess the new intelligence collected on the Reapers was troublesome, but it did not excuse Shepard's actions. They had hoped the Alliance would strong arm Shepard and incarcerate him, but the man had too many high level contacts with the Alliance so that did not happen.

With the Reaper War raging the humans once again used death and destruction to further their goals. Something the Reapers would use to their advantage when they indoctrinated Cerberus and turned them on the galaxy. The terrorist group would be responsible for some of the worst war crimes in the galactic history, even implicating a human corporation and its owner – Henry Lawson – in his quest for power, as well as the Councilor Udina who had colluded with Cerberus to topple the Council as he lusted for human dominance. What other proof was needed that humans were a danger to the galaxy?

Something that further incensed Hypatia was that the severely damaged Citadel was stuck in Sol System undergoing repairs, and the humans, with turian support, were unwilling to work to bring it back to its rightful place, and she knew that the Alliance and the Hierarchy was only keeping it in Sol as childish retribution – because with Reaper technology at everyone's fingertips it shouldn't prove too difficult to develop technologies to bring it back through the relay network, Hypatia reasoned.

At least the revelation about Cerberus dealings and crimes to the public had struck a blow to the Alliance, which had been scrambling its PR-machine to deflect the damage Cerberus, Henry Lawson and Udina had done. Even with all the racial hatred aimed at the asari, the Alliance was under intense scrutiny as well, the actions of Cerberus and their ilk was one of many things that cemented the fact that humans only sought power for themselves. It made aliens remember the aftermath of the 2183 Battle of the Citadel and the deaths of the then-Council and thousands of asari killed aboard the Destiny Ascension.

And for Shepard things weren't easy either, Hypatia gleefully concluded. When his choice in mate had finally leaked, many voiced their concerns, both within humanity and amongst the other races. Miranda Lawson, the ex-Cerberus operative, was perceived as having used deceit and sexual manipulation to receive amnesty by being with Shepard. She had also managed to land a job within the Alliance, details were scarce regarding her employment but Hypatia was fearful her position was pretty high in the human intelligence aparatus. Miranda Lawson was skilled at manipulation and espionage, and with Shepard having an outsized influence, she had power at her fingertips to cause horrific damage to asari plans. That the human woman was artificially created disgusted Hypatia even more because the asari valued traditions, family and maternal bond highly. Anything created without a natural parent would lead to corruption and ruin according to asari wisdom. Every asari practically worshipped their mother as a strong bond was formed when a mother melded with a newborn in the first minutes after birth, if there was no melding a child would reject everything like nourishment and possibly even oxygen. The bond between mother and daughter was the most intimate bond among asari.

An asari newscaster began talking on Hypatia's screen, it was a report from Earth. Among the rubble in a devastated London, the Reaper War Memorial was opened for the public. To Hypatia it was a big PR stunt from the Alliance, a prestige project that the human Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett – the de facto human leader – wanted finished before the one year anniversary of the end of the Reaper War, and it seemed they had accomplished that with two months to spare.

The Reaper War Memorial was placed at the so called 'ground zero' in London where the battle to reach the London Conduit had been fought. What once had been a battlefield had been completely flattened and dotted with a massive garden area with fountains and water features, and the most spectacular sight was the powerful underground halogen lights which emitted bright lights into the sky, replacing the Reaper element zero core which had powered the Conduit. Paved paths led towards the towering Conduit spires, and the space between the paths and the gardens were stenciled with the names of every warrior who had died during the Battle of Earth or from injuries sustained in the aftermath. Millions of names dotted the surfaces, and even the geth were represented by a single statue of a geth with a plaque reading 'the Geth Consensus' – they had been wiped out as the Crucible blast had targeted all manners of machine intelligences.

In the dull, damp and cloudy London autumn the area looked less spectacular like it would during the summer, but thousands of veterans, politicians and dignitaries had amassed at the Memorial opening from all over the galaxy – it was a precursor to the planned Victory Day celebrations which would occur two months later.

Hypatia clenched her fist and glared at the screen as Hackett held a speech. It was not the current speech which incensed Hypatia, it was the one the day before which the human had held with Primarch Adrien Victus. The Alliance and the Hierarchy had finalized the mutual two-party agreement to come to the other's assistance if required and to ensure stability across the Milky Way. Hackett had called the relationship to the Hierarchy as humanity's most important relationship, something Victus had echoed from the turian perspective – the Hierarchy appeared much more lenient on the humans despite Cerberus' war crimes. The two species would share military intelligence and conduct joint combat operations and peacekeeping missions. Coupled with other statements both men had made in the past that they would never rely on outsiders (in this case the asari and salarians) to dictate policy, protection and stability, Hypatia saw the undoing of the Citadel Council, and thus asari influence, which was quickly becoming ineffective and ceremonial and would only work to see to that Citadel Space didn't collapse. In practice the four Citadel Council races were allies but with cool relationships and divided in two wings; the Alliance-Hierarchy Pact and the asari/salarian Citadel Concord.

Amongst the Citadel client races the elcor, now seemingly usurped by the Hiearchy, and the Volus (having been a turian client race for over a millennia) favored the Pact, and there was seemingly nothing Hypatia could do about that in the foreseeable future.

The hanar still wanted to continue their neutral role they had always had as the race had always been unwilling to deal with other species, but because they had been hit hard financially during the war when trade had quickly dried up, they were hard pressed financially. For Hypatia this could prove to be a way in to take them on as a client race if she so desired, but the hanar didn't have much to offer in terms of political capital and military might, but influence over the other races was always something she desired.

Together, even if severely battered, the Systems Alliance and the Hierarchy wielded powerful military might, and having fought the Reapers from the beginning to the end gave humans and turians certain political capital. The two military leaders had also unveiled plans to jointly construct ten new warships based on Reaper technology, a new class called battleships which would be massive and powerful ships over 5600 meters long. The first two ships – one for the humans and one for the turians – were slated to enter service in 2190. The asari were obviously busy themselves reverse engineering Reaper technology and build military hardware, but the human and turian warmongering was disconcerting to her.

Hackett smiled on the camera, talking about how the galaxy had overcome the Reapers and jointly defeated them, and saluted the heroes that had died in the war, no matter their race. Hypatia's anger with how things were changing so fast took the better of her and her body shimmered in dark energy as she pushed out with her arm and unleashed a unstable ball of dark energy which crackled and sizzled in the air as it struck the large monitor, shredding it in a blue tinted detonation which sent pieces of plastic and liquid crystals flying in every direction. The wrecked flat screen monitor hurled through the air and smashed into a wall.

Hypatia stood up and closed her eyes, reciting a calming meditating mantra attributed to one of Athame's servants, Iremismós, who was the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, reason, intelligent activity, and meditation.

There was a hasty knock on the door which opened and Hypatia's assistance rushed inside after hearing the commotion. The young assistant looked around and stopped near Hypatia.

The assistant asked concerned, "Matriarch, is everything alright?"

Hypatia turned to face her assistant assured with a smile, "Yes, Saleesphia. Can you send for someone to help me clean up this mess and also get me a new monitor?"

Saleesphia saw the destroyed monitor across the room and all the plastic fragments littered about.

"Yes, Matriarch," Saleesphia promptly responded and left the room.

"Thank you," Hypatia offered before Saleesphia left and the door closed. "VI, open the blinds," Hypatia instructed.

The firing of the Crucible had not only severely damaged galactic communication and travel, but also destroyed all artificial and virtual intelligences across the galaxy, but society had to be rebuilt and function. Too many functions and specific systems needed to be operated by programs which could operate faster and multi-task like no organic ever could. There was a massive aversion to artificial intelligences after the war, but virtual intelligences were automated thinking programs that lacked sapience, and programmers had set out pretty quickly after the war to code new VIs. There was too much automation for society not to have VIs.

Hypatia left her expensive desk and walked over to the massive window as the blinds slowly opened and the bright light from the star Parnitha cascaded across Hypatia's lounge like office. A long shadow from her slender body cast behind her and her robe flowed as she graciously walked before stopping at the window, peering out at Serrice, the once beautiful asari capitol, now in ruins. Construction teams were slowly repairing the city and conducting decontamination of radioactive pockets and clearing debris. The workers still found rotten bodies in the rubble.

Hypatia couldn't keep her composure as a ball of heartache filled her with despair and she wept for her race, her people and her homeworld, promising to start rebuilding it to its former glory.

* * *

 **Some, but not all Mass Effect characters will make an appearance in this story, and there will be original characters as well.**

 **This story will contain sexual exploits between consenting adults.**

 **These author's notes will provide a summary to complement the above text on the setting of a post-war galaxy,** **thus you can decide pretty quickly if you want to continue or not if what I present bothers you.**

 **This is a sequel to my magnum opus Mass Effect 3: Fate of the Galaxy, and will cover a post-war galaxy but will not be nearly as long in length. And I do understand for potential new readers that reading the magnum opus would be a massive undertaking and thus I will strive to write this story in such a way that new readers can join in, but for old readers there will be some overlapping information. For new readers, be ready for some overhaul of the Alliance military such as ranks but also military hardware, plus I do occasionally borrow from other science fiction work, like Halo's UNSC and their military hardware. There are other things in the Mass Effect universe which I have also changed, and not just the military aspects.**

 **Plus this story, and the previous one, may not necessarily be fan service, there will certainly be events covered that does not appeal to people, and some of these events have unfolded in this prologue. Suffice to say it's a grim new galaxy after the war and the Mass Effect species may not all get along anymore due to what transpired during the war, even canon events that BioWare failed to flesh out, particularly the inactions of the asari and salarians, but also how the war crimes by Cerberus may reflect badly on humanity.**

 **A summary of some important events, so spoilers from Fate of the Galaxy:**

 **The Crucible, the Leviathan and Reaper backstories were reworked for my story. The Leviathan ruled the galaxy and had many thralls under their control, these thralls eventually created artificial intelligent life which later rebelled against the thralls. The Leviathan grew tired and waged war against the machines by creating massive battle forms from their image (ships reminiscent in size of Reapers) piloted by a single Leviathan so they could wage war outside their aquatic environment. The wars were relentless and with no end in sight the Leviathan, in their hubris, pressed more battle forms into service by creating self-aware machine intelligences by transferring billions of Leviathan memories and personality impressions into the battle forms, thus creating what would become the Reapers. The first Reaper, Harbinger, rebelled against the Leviathan, and the Reapers hunted their creators to near extinction with some going into hiding.**

 **The surviving Leviathan stayed in the shadows, using the spheres during the cycles to gather information, while the Reapers also monitored new civilizations and Harbinger came to the conclusion that artificial life would always rebel against their creators. Harbinger's solution was to ascend all lesser beings to their level after organics had reached a specific point in the evolutionary process, the Reapers requires the best species to be converted to Reapers as genetic and neurological material would dictate how efficient a new Reaper was, and many subjects would be needed to create new Reapers. Other species deemed inferior were destroyed or turned into Collectors, so there have been many different Collector variants over time.**

 **The Leviathan plotted their revenge slowly so they did not arouse Reaper suspicion and** **used new thralls to build weapons of mass destruction, the Proto-Crucible, to destroy the Reapers and reclaim their galaxy. Thirty seven million years before the events of Mass Effect the Leviathan had constructed enough weapons to finally destroy the Reapers, the weapons manipulated a star's magnetic field and caused it to emit a solar flare which powered a devastating ray which cleansed a single star system from Reapers. A long and bloody war followed, the siphoning process was slow and the Leviathan forces and the Proto-Crucibles were vulnerable and the Reapers could overwhelm and finally defeat the Leviathan once more, but a few Leviathan survived.**

 **With the Proto-Crucibles destroyed, but not the plans, the Leviathan once more planned to destroy the Reapers and eventually leaked the plans via thralls to the inusannon as they fought the Reapers in their cycle, but the inusannon failed to build the weapon. During next cycle the Leviathan did not intervene out of fear of being discovered, but the protheans found the plans to the Proto-Crucible at a inusannon ruin and they rushed to build the weapon and improve upon it, and instead it used the mass relay network to siphon dark energy to power the weapon to cleanse the galaxy of Reapers in one process, but they to failed to defeat the Reapers. In response to their near imminent defeat the protheans placed beacons across the galaxy loaded with the plans for the Crucible.**

 **This backstory is important because I setup the Crucible in my story with only one design goal by the Leviathan, and that was to destroy the Reapers, and there was no Catalyst entity present. Nothing else, because I was not enthusiastic about Mass Effect 3's ending, and even if the Proto-Crucible would have only targeted Reapers, the protheans with their biases towards artificial life would certainly had made changes to destroy all artificial life. In my fic the Crucible fired and destroyed all the Reapers, with the unintended side effect that all artificial intelligence was destroyed in the process, be it Reaper or otherwise. So no geth, and sadly no EDI. I like EDI, and I personally do not think the geth are so innocent as some fans feel, considering they wiped out almost all quarians; men, women and children. I tried to make a destroy ending where geth and EDI survived, but trying to explain why only the Reapers were destroyed felt like I was hand waving the consequences of the Crucible. Thus I used the destroy ending for my story, plus with temporary destruction and disruption of technology across the galaxy there is a layer of dread for the survivors.**


	2. The Star of Terra

Wearing only her thong, a newly showered Miranda Lawson peered at her near nude form in the mirror in the exquisite hotel room's bedroom as she sprayed just a whiff of exotic and expensive asari perfume on herself. She placed the perfume bottle on the mirror table and admired her athletically yet curvy body, slender waist and firm and bountiful breasts. She was a mesmerizing woman with long dark hair, foxy and naturally sculpted eyebrows and eyelashes, piercing and enticing blue eyes and full, luscious plump lips which gave her the perfect smile. Her nose was distinguished and refined, and she had quite high cheekbones, a narrow chin and a defined jaw. The soft light in the bedroom showed of her perfectly balanced complexion.

Miranda took great care of her body, she exercised regularly, and she ate healthy – although she would indulge herself from time to time. But her perfect body, in its entire splendor, was also in part thanks to her genes – genetically modified by her megalomaniac and psychopathic father over thirty seven years earlier. Her genetic origin had always been in the back of her mind throughout her life, it had always troubled her, and even controlled her. She had tried to escape the trauma of her father's psychological abuse for years but the trauma had always been inside her and thus she had never been able to escape it. But thanks to her wonderful fiancé she had managed to let that go and be able to finally dare to talk about her issues with somebody – somebody she trusted, and somebody she was completely able to share things with. And slowly her psychological trauma declined and she found a positive life spark. She still had a lot of healing to do, but she was at a much better place.

It had been one year since the Reaper War ended, the Victory Day celebrations were planned to start two days later, coinciding with humanity's Christmas festivities. Miranda was getting ready for the Alliance's military decoration ceremony at the Mirāju Hotel in downtown Thoreau Mesa, the capital of the arid planet Intai'sei in the Phoenix System located in the Argos Rho cluster, which was part of the Main Operating Base Pinnacle military area, and was one of only two major human military areas that had survived the war unscathed as Reaper forces had been unable to defeat the forces defending Pinnacle. The other surviving area was MOB Shangri La on Watson's moon Franklin in the Skepsis System, Reaper forces had never reached the Terminus Systems in large enough numbers to attack it. Intai'sei had been chosen for the Alliance's official Victory Day celebrations as Earth was still in ruins, and the surviving space stations and orbital defense fortresses weren't suited for such celebrations.

The Normandy was docked at the Tianlong Tether, one of three space elevators in orbit above Thoreau Mesa, so crewmembers would be on shore leave and be present at the ceremony but they would not be awarded anything as there had already been another ceremony a month earlier on the Normandy where every Alliance crewmember had been awarded various medals and promotions, including the Distinguished Unit Citation for the crew's gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps during the war. Shepard had only been awarded the Sacrifice Medal for his grievous injuries sustained during the Battle of London, and the Reaper War Campaign Medal as the Star of Terra would override most other medals and commendations – both Miranda and Shepard found it obvious the Alliance wanted political media exposure for awarding Shepard the Star of Terra near the one year Victory Day celebrations. Miranda had not been awarded any medals and ribbons as she was considered a 'civilian contractor', and the Alliance was unsure how it would look awarding a former Cerberus operative any form of eligible civilian award or decoration, but it was something she was totally fine with as she didn't want Alliance decorations.

Miranda had been recruited by the Alliance almost immediately after the war as an intelligence operative with the Alliance Intelligence Service and specifically their Directorate of Operations. Hackett had personally offered her a pardon and employment if she in return gave the Alliance eight years of her life (and Shepard had to extend his service contract with eight more years). Obviously one reason for her pardon was to keep Shepard in check, and neither she nor Shepard was blind to that fact. It was apparent that Hackett needed capable people to help humanity, and from his perspective they had to offer her pardon to keep Shepard cooperative, so it was a political sacrifice the Systems Alliance had to endure as it was definitely not something popular when the public learned that the Alliance had recruited former Cerberus personnel – Miranda was not the only one. Shepard and Miranda were loyal to humanity and wanted to ensure humanity's survival, but neither of them necessarily harbored much love for the Systems Alliance but they knew that the Alliance was the best hope at ensuring a strong humanity.

The door to the shower opened and Shepard stepped out with a damp body, a newly shaved face and a towel wrapped around his waist. Miranda looked at his reflection in the mirror. John Shepard was a tall and muscular man, with buzz cut hair and a well defined body for her to explore, love and use for their sexual fantasies. She appreciated his nudity, he was a handsome man with a boyish charm.

Since his ordeal on the Citadel he had healed fully but there were still some scars across his body which was still healing, and Miranda winced a bit, it hurt her seeing her best friend and lover scarred like that. The scars would always remind her how close she had been to losing him.

Shepard looked up at her and appreciated her naked form. In the mirror he saw her worry. He smiled encouragingly, "Hey gorgeous."

Miranda was encouraged and happy that he was at least in a good mood. She was happy to still have him alive.

"Hey, handsome," Miranda smiled in the mirror reflection.

Shepard strolled over in a stride and wrapped around her from behind with arms around her stomach but not before his towel slid of and Miranda grinned amused. Shepard buried his face in her neck and hair and took a long breath, savoring her scent and Miranda's smile widened.

"You smell great," Shepard said adoringly. He looked up into her eyes in the mirror. "And you look so sexy."

"Of course I'm sexy," Miranda snarked. "What am I supposed to be? Bland?"

"You're far from bland," Shepard chuckled. He moved to kiss her shoulder, nibbling a bit on her soft skin and appreciatively looked down on her breasts.

"That's right," Miranda said amused.

Shepard couldn't help himself and a hand left her stomach and cupped one of her firm breasts, he enjoyed the softness and weight while caressing her skin.

Miranda laughed musically, "You child!"

"You've yet to stop me all this time we've been together," Shepard said matter-of-factly.

"I indulge you too much," Miranda snarked, but she enjoyed his gentle touch.

Shepard looked up into her eyes while his hand was still fondling her breast gently. He said with childish innocence, "But my hand was forced! Because of your awesome boobs." He sighed in love, "Gets me every time. I'm like a puppy against a lion. I'm powerless."

Miranda corrected snarky. "Lioness." She asked concerned, "How are you tonight?"

Shepard stared at her breasts, fondling the one, and deadpanned, "Great, thank you."

Miranda rolled her eyes and swatted away his hand from her breast and Shepard whined a protest.

Miranda sighed concerned, "How do you feel about this ceremony?"

Shepard wrapped around her stomach again and hugged her close. He looked up into the mirror and the reflection of her eyes.

Shepard was serious, "It's a propaganda piece for the masses. At least they have other service members being pinned with medals tonight otherwise it would have been too awkward. I didn't really like the first and second Star of Terra ceremonies, and I sure don't like this one. I didn't do it for the medals." He chuckled cheerless, "Plus it's ironic how some smeared me and ignored my warnings in -83, and now the tune is very different." Shepard shrugged, "Well, the majority of the old guard was lost in the war so that explains that."

Miranda reflected, she didn't really like Hackett but conceded, "Hackett had your back, still do. Anderson protected you to."

Shepard nodded and thought about a dying Anderson from rounds he had fired while influenced by the Illusive Man, "Yeah, David did."

Miranda noticed his somber ways, and said consoling with a soft voice, "John. Sorry. Focus on me instead, please."

Shepard looked into her eyes and squeezed her body lovingly with a faint smile, "Don't need to apologize. I will focus on you." He asked seriously, "How do you feel about tonight?"

Miranda mused, "This is what you've talked to me about during the war. All the parties and ceremonies we will attend, all the scrutiny I'm under now even if I was granted a pardon for rendering my services to the Alliance." She continued somber "You're under scrutiny for sleeping with an ex-Cerberus operative, one whose father is the worst war criminal humanity has seen in a long time. Anything I say or do will be reflected on you." She promised determined, "I'm going to be on my best behavior, I can't act out on my critics even if it is justified, even if it's a human reaction from my side. If I do I'll have my past thrown in my face. That will paint me as a monster and that will make you look bad." Miranda turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She beamed, "I'll be a charming girlfriend who is very proud of her fiancé." She kissed his lips and both parted their lips so their wet tongues touched sensually. She broke the quick yet loving kiss and said sincerely, "And I'm very proud of you."

Shepard smiled back, "I know you will be on your best behavior. I love you."

"I love you to." Miranda explained, "I will have to treat this like any other undercover assignment in the past where I put on a convincing role to trick a target." There was a beat and she leaned back a bit but both were still wrapped around each other. Miranda glanced at his nudity and said longing, "Although I'd rather stay in bed. Cuddle. Make out. Lots of naughty sex."

Shepard nodded and assured lovingly, "Me to, honey." He glanced at the mirror and saw their garment bags on the bed. "You've something sexy to wear tonight I suppose."

Miranda beamed and hugged Shepard closer, "I have. It's a very tight fit, lots of revealing skin and cleavage." She purred with arousing intent, knowing how much he loved that sound, "You will be unable to take your eyes of me tonight."

Shepard smiled amused, "You always have to be the foxiest woman wherever you go."

Miranda gave Shepard an even look, "I have to, considering whom the hostess is tonight." She narrowed her eyes and said dull, "If I didn't know better I could have sworn you had a hand in this."

Shepard protested, "I haven't done a thing. Columbia Rios has been hosting several of these award ceremonies for Alliance service members in the past months, and she did a show at Shangri-la at the end of the war." Shepard shrugged, "She looks good, has an outgoing personality and the troops love her."

Columbia Rios was a celebrated and award winning actress – and sex icon – who had been active in films and television for over twenty years before she ended her career in the mid 2170s to focus on philanthropy, in the aftermath of the Skyllian Blitz in 2176 she was named goodwill ambassador for refugees. During the Reaper War she had been very active in supporting human service members and refugees.

"I'm going to have my eyes on her tonight," Miranda said dangerously.

Shepard had accepted her neurotic behavior a long time ago and was used to it. He kissed her lips and said adoringly, "You're the love of my life, Miss Miri."

Miranda returned the kiss and said in love, "And you're mine." She was suddenly annoyed again and drawled a warning, "But the floozies…"

"We should get dressed or we will be late," Shepard suggested with a disarming smile.

Miranda snorted aloof, "You're clearly not used to these functions. Important people are supposed to be late, really. Builds anticipation."

"Ori might be finished dressing and is waiting," Shepard chuckled.

Miranda sighed weary, "Oh, yes, little Ori. She's a bit too enthusiastic about this ceremony. She'll be on the prowl, to quote her."

"She's an adult," Shepard replied diplomatically.

"And a little too much for me at times," Miranda replied. "Placing her in an oversexualized society like Nos Astra maybe wasn't the smartest idea. But Nos Astra was far away from Bekenstein, Earth and father."

"She has good parents that love her."

"That's a solace I take," Miranda nodded. "Although I'm starting to see similarities in mother and daughter in terms of brash attitude concerning sex."

"Let's enjoy this weekend, honey. It's back to business after Christmas."

The Normandy, it's crew and assault team had recently been designated as an Expeditionary Targeting Force, a secretive actionable intelligence-centric special warfare unit formed with aviation support, logistics and intelligence elements designed to respond to both internal and external threats to the Systems Alliance. To that end, the Normandy had received some additional ground and aviation vehicles with support personnel, pilots, and ordnance and maintenance parts. There would be additional operators added to the roster as well after the holidays because the aliens had left the Normandy a few months earlier when the relays to their home systems had finally been repaired, and after all, the Normandy was a human ship and would be needed to defend humanity and carry out classified operations for humanity, and that was not something that the Alliance necessarily wanted aliens to have knowledge about.

Miranda quickly switched to professional mode and shooed away Shepard and instructed as they let go of each other, "Let's get dressed. Go to the bathroom, close the door and get dressed."

"What?" Shepard asked confused.

"I want to surprise you," Miranda smiled mysteriously. "I promise I won't be long."

Shepard merely shrugged, "Fine."

They shared a kiss and parted ways. Shepard grabbed his garment bag of the bed and the towel on the floor and darted into the bathroom which the silent fans in the ceiling had cleared of the damp air after he showered. With the door closed he took out his dress blues and a peaked cap from the garment bag which has kept the uniform in pristine order. The dress blues had ribbons on the left chest, including one ribbon showing he had been awarded two Star of Terra in the past, and rank insignias on the shoulders.

The minutes ticked by and Shepard was fully dressed and slipped into a pair of black formal shoes. He slipped on his omni-tool wristband on his left arm, which was sleek but just big enough to have all of the miniaturized devices and a power cell to power a computer, camera, communications device, haptic display and fabrication unit. And it was military grade so it could withstand harsh environments, wear and tear and also be able to sync up with military equipment, and draw power from an armor suit, giving additional power for things soldiers did with an omni-tool like hacking and decrypting computers, and repairing simple items.

Miranda called out from the other room, "Ready, John?"

"Yeah."

Shepard collected the bag and exited and was greeted by his paramour at the bed. She was in a black skintight mini dress, with thin shoulder straps, and a plunging deep cleavage exposing the swell of her breasts and a thin golden necklace, and she also had an omni-tool wristband on her arm. She had an open back all the way to her lower back which accented her hips and shapely butt.

Shepard smiled amorous and admired her, "Such a pretty woman. You look beautiful, babe." He dropped the bag on the bed.

Miranda beamed, "Thanks." She did a slow model spin for him and then walked over with a sway to her hips, her high heeled shoes clicked on the floor. She stopped in front of him and grinned while she let a finger slide slowly and teasingly across her cleavage to the gold necklace with a double heart which rested between her bountiful breasts. She spoke with a sultry, intimate whisper, "What do you think about my necklace?"

Shepard eyes were tracking her finger as she admired her cleavage. He quipped amorous, "Do I really need another reason to ogle at your breasts?"

Miranda giggled playfully, "Yes." She admired his tall and muscular stature, she loved seeing her man in a uniform for her own pleasure before she had her way with him after the ceremony. She hummed enthused, "Despite my aversion for the Alliance you look handsome, John. I'm proud of you." She reached out and adjusted his peaked cap.

"Thanks, honey," Shepard smiled.

Miranda hooked arms with her fiancé and asked charming, "Shall we?"

Shepard replied cavalier, "Of course, Ms. Lawson."

The couple left the room for the hallway outside. At a nearby couch group sat Miranda's sister Oriana Ford and tinkered with her omni-tool. She looked up at the disturbance and stood up. Oriana was somewhat toned but had a much curvier figure than Miranda, and a fuller face and sported short dark hair. She wore a snug blue one-shoulder mini dress with the side spliced and adorned with rhinestone accents.

Oriana said relieved but teased, "Thank the Goddess, I hope you two are finished making kissy faces now." Oriana had a fairly neutral accent tinged with some asari nuances considering her upbringing on Illium, and she was also a siari.

The couple was approaching and Miranda was a bit squeamish facing her sister in such a dress, leaving little to the imagination.

Oriana noticed the couple's looks and beamed, "Pretty isn't it?"

"You're not wearing that," Miranda blurted out demanding and unhooked her arm with Shepard's.

Oriana leaned on her hip and crossed her arms under her breasts. She objected snarky, "Oh? I'm not, 'mom?'" She pointed at her older sister's dress, "Says the woman wearing that."

Miranda countered, "I'm not dressed like I'm going to seduce everyone at the hotel."

Oriana laughed musically, "You're dressed to seduce John once the ceremony is over!" Oriana snarked and waved dismissively with one hand, "And I'm only going to seduce one lucky guy tonight, 'mom.'" Oriana straightened herself and dropped her arms.

Shepard was a bit amused by the exchange, but also thought his paramour was a bit hypocritical concerning her own choice in dress.

Miranda pointed out, "There's going to be heads of states, politicians, military personnel, cameras, celebrities-"

Oriana chimed in chipper, "I know, that will be great for my social media presence!"

"It seems you girls have similar tastes in dresses," Shepard mused.

Miranda frowned and turned to face Shepard and slapped his shoulder and chided, "You're not helping."

Shepard yelped and then chuckled rubbing his shoulder.

Oriana beamed, "We're two sexy and awesome sisters and we're going to make the dance floor unsafe tonight." She broke out into a little dance to a song in her head, she moved her hips seductively with her arms in the air.

Shepard chuckled amused at Oriana's chipper, carefree and outgoing personality. She looked silly but happy.

"It's not that kind of event, Ori," Miranda informed relieved.

Oriana stopped dancing, her arms dropped and she look dejected at Miranda.

"But I want to grind a hot guy," Oriana whined. She frowned and pointed at Miranda, and demanded pointedly, "You better not cock block me, I need some to. You're not the only awesome sister getting fucked tonight."

Shepard was amazed by the younger sister's cavalier attitude, still not sure what to make of her at times.

Miranda sighed exasperated, and gave up.

Shepard said softly, giving Miranda's dress a deliberate look and then Oriana's, "Two very beautiful women are wearing pretty dresses tonight and look smashing. Add some sparkly wine and the three of us are going to have a great evening I think."

Oriana beamed, "Thanks, John." She couldn't help her slight celebrity crush and eyed Shepard, "You look swooningly handsome, John, I can just imagine all the hearts you will break being off the market."

Miranda caught up with her hypocrisy as an over-protective sister. She sighed resigned and faced Oriana with a smile and said genuinely, "I'm sorry, Ori. Of course, you look spectacular. We will have fun tonight."

Oriana walked over and hugged her sister and encouraged, "We both look great. You're a prudish and over-protective sister but I love you." She let go of Miranda and looked at her sister's dress astonished and pondered, "Although prudish doesn't go hand in hand with your dress, Randa."

Shepard deadpanned, "Miranda always aims to be the foxiest woman wherever she goes."

Oriana looked at her own body with a cheerful tease, "Only now she's being outfoxed by me! The new and improved sexy sister."

Miranda frowned again and slapped Shepard's shoulder and chided, "You're not helping."

Shepard chuckled and rubbed his shoulder.

Oriana giggled exuberant, "We're going to be the foxiest women in the reception hall tonight, Randa."

Shepard hooked arms with Miranda, urging to more pressing matters, "We're running late, ladies. Let's go."

Oriana hooked arms with Shepard and said chipper, "You're going to have two awesome and sexy sisters at your side tonight, John. You're very lucky."

Shepard smiled friendly and nodded. He glanced at both sisters on his arms, "I'm very lucky."

Oriana beamed confident, "Yes, you are."

* * *

Intai'sei and the capital Thoreau Mesa had been settled by humans in 2166 and had grown exponentially over the last two decades, and Intai'sei's community and economy relied heavily on the military's presence. The Phoenix System was the Alliance's last bastion on the frontier to the Attican Traverse. The system had belonged to the Hierarchy Navy since the Krogan Rebellions, but as part of the turian reparations to humanity after the First Contact War, the system and the associated military space stations had been handed over to the Alliance, which the Hierarchy had been less than pleased about. Although from Council perspective it had not been all goodwill, they had been very supportive of humanity's drive to expand territory in the late 2150s because it would increase Council influence in areas which back then had been part of the Attican Traverse – the Council had let humanity shoulder the burden, loses and responsibility without sacrificing asari, salarian and turian lives.

Thoreau Mesa was a thriving city thanks to the military, and it was the obvious R&R stop for most troops stationed in the system, and the capital offered gambling to be done, clubs to party in, and neon entertainment of the likes of Silversun Strip, alongside strip clubs, and expensive hotels and restaurants.

The Alliance had rented Mirāju Hotel's two VIP reception halls for the award ceremony where a dozen service members would be recognized for their actions during the Reaper War. The small venue had a capacity for 200 guests while the large venue could hold 500 guests, and with the folding wall partitions parted the impeccable white walled rooms were packed with around 600 guests of well dressed entertainers, politicians, family members and military personnel, but they were not just all humans; all the Council races were represented despite the cool relationship on the Citadel Council. The Alliance strived to be inclusive, plus it was also a bit of a PR stunt considering the scrutiny humanity was under due to Cerberus' actions. Even a few krogan and quarian representatives were there as well.

The buzzing sound of idle chatter filled the crowded reception hall which was sleek and had a white, glazed architecture which was lit up by a soft fluorescent light. Dozens of illuminated Cherry blossoms dotted the venue accented by decorative lights. Rows of round dinner tables dotted the floor, and along the walls there were small booths of couches and tables, and finally numerous bars would provide the guests with drinks throughout the night.

At the far end of the hall was a slightly raised stage with a podium and a hologram projector where the speaker could see the visual text of a speech. Next to the podium was a table filled with neat rows of small boxes containing medals, behind the podium a large blue Alliance flag adorned the wall. And to give everyone in the sprawling reception hall a good view of the stage there were a handful of large flatscreen TVs near the stage, wirelessly connected to several camera drones silently hovering several meters above the floor.

Columbia Rios was the evening's host, she was a tall and a curvy brunette with a voluptuous chest. She wore a purple and silver glittery mini dress with a deep v neckline. The thin material was slightly revealing and underneath she wore nothing but a black g-string. She was in her mid fifties but still looked twenty years younger. She was quite a confident and charming woman and loved the stage and to be the center of attention, the buzzing hall quieted down as she held an enthusiastic speech thanking the military members for their sacrifices. The speech was also sprinkled with some humor and anecdotes to entertain the guests. Rios thanked everyone and introduced Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett who took to the stage. Rios gladly shared a hug with the tall Admiral and left the stage as Hackett stopped at the podium and gazed at the crowd.

The 53 year old Hackett appeared impeccable and neutral, he was a veteran of the First Contact War. Hackett was a battle hardened officer with grey hair, a long scar going from his right eye to his upper right lip, and sported a goatee. Decades of space warfare, leading the battered Alliance during and after the Reaper War and coping with the deaths of his wife, daughter and son had aged Hackett considerably more than his age suggested. The wonders of modern medical science kept people productive and healthy well into their eighties or beyond, but a hard life or living in the Terminus Systems or even in the Attican Traverse away from modern society and its many luxuries could have its toll on people unless you took care of yourself. His family had lived in one of the many space stations in the Arcturus System – humanity's capital – and all three of them had died when the Reapers attacked and obliterated space station after space station, and Hackett had been unable to do anything but order a tactical retreat to save the remnants of the First and Fifth fleets.

The nights were the hardest for Hackett, when alone he cried a lot and tried to handle all the emotions that were slowly ripping him apart. He was still kicking himself for the choices he made, for keeping quiet about the truth for so long before it was too late. Maybe he could have saved his family, and so many others, if they had prepared accordingly. As Chief of Naval Operations, and prior to that commander of the Fifth Fleet fighting Sovereign, he knew the truth, but all the high ranking Alliance officers and politicians wanted the threat of the Reapers swept under the rug so not to instill chaos with the population. Hackett suspected that in reality they were probably scared and fooled themselves that there was no threat if the truth was ignored. And when Shepard tried to tell the truth they pounced on him and destroyed his career after the Normandy had been destroyed by the Collectors.

Hackett should have done something. Anything. But Hackett followed orders again because that was what he was trained to do and it got countless people killed, like his family. And when colonies started disappearing and when communications to the Hegemony was lost he didn't act, he just followed orders, he made the choice that his family was not a priority.

He knew many were angry with the asari for keeping the Serrice-beacon a secret, for hoarding prothean technologies to rule the rest of the galaxy in secrecy. Hackett was angry at Hypatia and the Circle as well, but it was not so black and white because the Alliance had been willing accomplices to keep the Reapers a secret before the war regardless of the motivations.

Hackett pushed all his fear, anger and sadness aside and cleared his throat.

"Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Intai'sei and Thoreau Mesa," Hackett began with an unwavering and focused voice talking into the podium's microphone. "This will partially be an unorthodox ceremony because usually the Alliance's Prime Minister is the person who presents the Star of Terra, but with rebuilding our species the civilian political arm has yet been rebuilt." Hackett gestured to Shepard, "Will Commander John Shepard join me on the stage?"

Shepard left his table and walked towards the stage with a straight back as everyone's eyes followed him, he headed up the steps and stopped behind Hackett and stood at attention.

Hackett nodded pleased and continued, "The creed that guides every Marine Special Operator in Marine Forces Special Operations Command says this: 'I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions.'" Hackett smiled and continued teasingly, "And knowing Commander John Shepard personally, standing here tonight in front of you and the cameras is not his idea of a good time."

The audience laughed good-heartedly.

Shepard allowed himself a faint smile, but agreed with Hackett; he'd rather be elsewhere and hated to be the center of attention like this. He looked at his beautiful woman who gave him an encouraging smile, while the younger sister was recording the ceremony on her omni-tool.

"Like many of humanity's special operators, the Commander has a deep sense of humility, and he has never sought the spotlight, and does in fact shun it, but fate decided that he would be thrown into the spotlight many times," Hackett continued with a firm voice which carried on the speakers. "I know he'd rather be elsewhere, but the Star of Terra is humanity's highest military decoration, and this will be his third one. He received the first one after his heroic actions during the Skyllian Blitz in 2176 – he was fresh out of the Academy and on shore leave with his unit. He led his Marines against the pirates, and together they saved civilians and brought back communications with the outside galaxy and thus they were able to call for help. His second Star of Terra was awarded after the 2183 Battle of the Citadel, as humanity's first Spectre, Shepard led a diverse team of humans and aliens – a very unorthodox team mind you – against the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius in his attempt to bring forth the Reaper invasion. An indoctrinated Arterius was defeated, and a combined human and alien fleet managed to defeat the rogue geth and the Reaper Sovereign. Stopping the Reaper invasion for the moment."

The audience applauded to the accolades while Shepard cringed inwardly but remained impassive behind Hackett. Shepard would never have been able to accomplish anything alone, he wore his decorations for those who did not return. He felt embarrassed and awkward being at the center of attention, and he felt a loss for all his friends who had died in his years of service. He had just done his job, nothing else. He was angry and upset being given the Star of Terra, because so many of his friends killed in action deserved that honor more than him. Plus it felt troubling to dine and wine on expensive food while so much of the galaxy was in ruins, and many, many planets were still cut off from the rest of the galaxy due to the damaged mass relay network.

Hackett informed duly, "Commander Shepard is the first human service member who have been awarded more than one Star of Terra, and in the Alliance's short history so far 83 men and women have been awarded a single Star of Terra – but many more will receive this honor in due time. I will also present the Commander with another Star of Terra which is posthumously awarded to Rear Admiral David Anderson for his heroic actions on Earth leading a successful insurgency and helping bringing an end to the war. Sadly, David Anderson's closest family – ex wife Cynthia and his two sons Dwayne and Jason – who lived in Atlanta in the United North American States, were killed during the war. David Anderson has no other immediate family members." Hackett gestured to a blonde woman at another table near the stage, "Although his significant other, Kahlee Sanders, would undoubtedly qualify to receive the award on David Anderson's behalf, but she wished to extend that honor to John Shepard." Hackett cleared his throat and continued, "Those who knew David Anderson are aware of the close bond he had with John Shepard, in many ways they were like father and son, and it will be my honor to posthumously award David Anderson – once a close friend of mine – his Star of Terra to John Shepard."

There were more applauding from the assembled in the room.

Shepard, who still felt grief and guilt for what happened, remained impassive and glanced at Kahlee Sanders who offered him a gentle and reassuring smile, he couldn't understand why she didn't want to be presented with the award, but it likely had something to do with the close bond he had shared with Anderson. She was very attractive blonde woman at the age of 48. She had been a system technician in the Navy in the 2160s and 2170s reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander before she had resigned her commission in 2175. She also happened to be the daughter of Jon Grissom, the man who led the first expedition through the Charon Relay. In 2178 she had been offered a position on the Ascension Project's board of directors and had worked as a civilian contractor, shepherding young biotics into civilian and military fields within the Alliance at the Jon Grissom Academy. During the war it was there Shepard first met her as he and his team saved her and a handful of biotic students from being kidnapped by Cerberus – sadly many had already been killed or kidnapped by Cerberus. Just as most of humanity's bright minds, she had worked on the Crucible after the rescue but was now slated to return to the Academy.

"Looking back at John Shepard's life, a strange path took him here tonight," Hackett continued considerate. "When he was born his parents gave him up for adoption and John jumped between foster homes and government care systems in Vancouver. He was a troubled child who got himself in trouble with the law when he joined a street gang after fleeing from a foster home. But a couple of years later after a petty crime career, a almost eighteen year old Shepard saw a rival gang member murdered by his gang and he knew he had to leave before he himself was killed or he killed someone. The only way out for the delinquent was to join the Alliance Armed Forces and eventually leave Earth. And that was what he did when he signed up with the Alliance Marine Forces a few weeks later. I know for many Marines, being a grunt is a monumental pride. It's a special kind of warrior that sees themselves separate from the rest. Yet we're here today addressing this Marine by Navy rank as he was transferred to the Navy in a ruse when we prepared him to become the first human Spectre." Hackett grinned, "I'm sorry for that." Hackett glanced at Shepard and teased, "But once a Marine, always Marine, even when he's a swabbie."

There was a steady laughter from the guests, even Shepard grinned himself and agreed with that assessment. He even had the option now to transfer back to the Marines, his Navy rank would be converted back to the equivalent Marine rank instead, Lieutenant Colonel, but Shepard had not signed the papers yet.

Hackett chuckled himself and turned to face the audience and continued a bit more serious a moment later, "Many powerful and misguided voices amongst our own Alliance ranks, and with our Citadel Council partners, wished to keep the existence of Reapers a secret from the public as not to instill fear." Hackett lauded, "But Shepard remained defiant and pushed forward and took matters in his own hands with the help of his allies in the Alliance like Rear Admiral Anderson who wanted a more active reaction to prepare against the Reapers. And when the war finally came, John Shepard fought alongside his crew and another unorthodox team in many dark places in our galaxy against the Reapers and Cerberus. John Shepard and his team carried out many classified missions but no matter the odds, no matter the horror, John Shepard pushed forward and never wavered in the face of imminent destruction."

Because there was no other alternative, Shepard pondered. And never wavered? I did have doubts in my darker moments.

Hackett said vigorously, "So tonight we don't simply honor a single individual, many brave humans will be awarded some of the highest military decorations on this scene tonight. We pay tribute to a community across our entire military - special operators, aviators, Marines, sailors, engineers, technicians, analysts, countless enablers, and their devoted families. In these hard times after our victory against the Reapers, our species has called on this community like never before. Small in number, they have borne an extraordinarily heavy load to secure peace for not just our species, the rest of the galaxy. But they continue to volunteer, mission after mission, and will sadly have to do that for years to come."

The audience applauded, some were more vigorous than others.

Hackett looked down on the podium for a moment and drew a somber look before he looked across the room and continued quietly, "It's tough to give the orders to send these brave men and woman into harm's way, but my staff and myself see the difference they make after every mission. I've waited when the margin between success and failure was razor thin, I've grieved with them and I will grieve for my entire life thinking about the sacrifice paid by all of us who fought the Reapers – be it brave humans or aliens. The one year anniversary to celebrate the end of the Reaper War are soon upon us, so today and the following celebrations are a reminder to our species and the galaxy about the sacrifices we all paid in one way or the other to secure that victory – and some have paid more dearly than others. Humanity's Special Operations Forces are the finest to serve our species, to protect our fellow humans. We may not always hear of their success. But they are there in the thick of the fight, in the dark of night, achieving their mission." Hackett gestured behind him. "Commander John Shepard is such a human. Rear Admiral David Anderson was that human. Every service member who serves with honor is that human. We sleep more peacefully in our beds tonight because patriots like these stand ready to answer our species' call and protect our way of life - now and forever." Finally Hackett said proudly, "And as we prepare for the reading of the citation, I ask you to join me in expressing humanity's profound gratitude to John Shepard and all our quiet professionals."

The crowd applauded as Hackett walked over to the nearby table and fetched a small box and opened it to retrieve the Star of Terra. It was made of gilding metals and red brass alloys with blue plating, enamel and gold pieces. It was shaped as a star and in the middle was an engraving of the map of Earth representing an azimuthal equidistant projection centered on the North Pole showing all of Earth's continents. The medal was attached to a light blue colored moiré silk neck ribbon, and the center of the ribbon displayed the Systems Alliance insignia.

A military aide near the stage announced through her headset, "The Chief of Naval Operations takes pleasure in presenting the Star of Terra to Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy."

Hackett returned to the podium and spoke firmly into the microphone, "For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Earth on 22-23 December 2186. During the heaviest fighting in London, John Shepard and David Anderson fearlessly braved the relentless and merciless enemy and drove a commandeered Mako across the battlefield towards the Conduit, a horrific machine which brought humans to the Citadel far away from Earth where they would be processed to create new Reapers. Despite grievous injuries and uncertainty when they arrived via the transportation beam, both Shepard and Anderson braved the dark and killed the indoctrinated Cerberus terrorist leader known only as the Illusive Man who was encountered on the Citadel. The two men managed to interface with the ancient prothean machines and open the Citadel arms, allowing the combined joint-species fleet to connect the Crucible with the Citadel. From deep inside the Citadel, John Shepard and David Anderson finally activated the weapon which would rid the galaxy of the Reapers, but not without a final sacrifice. As the Citadel crumbled from the force of the Crucible firing, Rear Admiral Anderson lost his life as the two men tried to escape. John Shepard survived but was unconscious as he floated in space to later be rescued. His bold and decisive actions while grievously injured enabled the allied forces to deliver the final blow to the Reapers. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of near-certain death, Commander Shepard reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Systems Alliance Armed Forces."

Hackett left the podium and walked over to Shepard and stood behind him and the audience started applauding.

Shepard stood tall as the neck ribbon was fastened around his neck. He pondered that the citation was the official version of what had transpired on the Citadel, but how close they had actually been to losing the war due to the Illusive Man's indoctrination and how he used that against Anderson and himself was a secret. The real events were exceptionally controlled information because if Matriarch Hypatia, her allies or the new salarian Dalatrass learned that he had been indoctrinated for a short time they would undoubtedly use that to ruin his career and status, effectively destroying him. Hackett wasn't going to allow that, nor would Shepard allow that.

Not many knew of the real events, of his friends only Miranda, Chakwas and Garrus knew the truth of Shepard being momentarily indoctrinated and forced to shoot Anderson. Although Shepard had told the truth to Kahlee Sanders because she deserved to know the truth, and surprisingly to Shepard she did not blame him and instead offered compassion and understanding while clearly suffering from losing her lover and the future they had wanted.

Hackett walked around to face Shepard and rendered a salute as a matter of respect and courtesy. Being a Star of Terra recipient was one of the few instances where higher ranking members saluted a lower ranking service member first, although it was not required by law or military regulation.

"Thank you, Admiral," Shepard said courteously and returned the salute.

"No, son, thank you," Hackett replied and stepped aside and joined the applauding.

Shepard had to swallow his embarrassment and awkwardness he felt over the situation and gave the audience a grateful nod and a smile.

Hackett stopped applauding and approached the table and retrieved a Star of Terra box but did not open it. He headed over to the podium again and the applauding simmered down before Hackett began talking again.

"Tonight, we also add Rear Admiral David Anderson's name to the list of recipients who have made the ultimate sacrifice during the actions he and Commander Shepard carried out. I hereby with great honor posthumously present Rear Admiral David Anderson's Star of Terra to Commander John Shepard." Hackett took a breath and tried to steel himself but his voice waivered emotionally a bit, "I knew David Anderson for fifteen years, he was close friend, a brave man, a man with great conviction and morale fiber, a man who was dedicated to humanity. He started his career in the 2150s as a Space Warfare Officer on a cruiser, until he, and many other young men and women were offered to join MARSOC, the cutting edge of human special operations forces where he would later test his mettle in the First Contact War against the turians. Anderson had transferred to the Marines and served with distinction in the special operations community for decades before he transferred back to the Navy as he took command of the original SSV Normandy." Hackett continued quietly, it was hard to speak about his close friend, "David Anderson never faltered in his duties and many enlisted and officers alike who served with him agree that Rear Admiral David Anderson was an iron-souled warrior of colossal and almost unbelievable courage in the face of the enemy, and I know there was no doubt in his mind when he followed John Shepard into that beam to the Citadel to win the war. For his courage, we award Rear Admiral David Anderson the Star of Terra, and with this medal, we acknowledge a debt that will not diminish with time - and can never be repaid."

Shepard thought it was a fitting speech commemorating Anderson's memory, it was hard for him not to be affected as he was still wracked by guilt for shooting Anderson.

The crowd applauded as Hackett turned to face Shepard and handed the Spectre the small medal box.

Shepard took the box and gave Hackett a solemn but thankful nod for that honor and they saluted. The two men finally shook hands and Shepard left the stage to return to his table.

When Shepard finally sat down Miranda gave him a heartfelt kiss on the lips, she knew how difficult this had been for him and wanted to know she supported him. She wasn't much for public display of affection, her private and public personas varied much; in private she would be friendly, charming and loving, her public persona was much more professional, and only occasionally did she allow for public display of affection, but she had to swallow her pride for his sake. Miranda had a sense that everyone was looking, judging and analyzing during public, because that is what she would do. Dating John Shepard meant that for a woman who was used to anonymity had to adapt to a reality where she would be hounded by the public and the media, she had to fake being friendly with others she didn't necessarily like. This was especially true in the aftermath of the war when her previous employment had leaked and thus there had been public allegations against her that she used sex to get immunity, plus there had been accounts of some nefarious missions which painted her as a honeypot assassin and manipulative blackmail specialist. Those allegations didn't reflect well on Shepard and now she had to act the part of a loving, caring and friendly fiancé – which she was in private, but not something she wanted to necessarily put on display.

Hackett returned to the podium and took a moment to drink some water before he spoke again. "I'd like to welcome Gunnery Sergeant Shyla Lovato up to the stage with me."

The crowd applauded as a young black woman walked up the stage and stood at attention slightly behind Hackett.

"The Leeroy Jenkins Leadership Award is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated the highest qualities in leadership whilst serving humanity," Hackett began with a firm voice. "It was first created in 2161 and is one of the Marine Forces' most prestigious awards. Leeroy Jenkins was a Corporal with the First Marine Expeditionary Force fighting the turians on Shanxi during the First Contact War. Whilst taking cover in a building under withering enemy fire in the besieged city of Penglai, Jenkins' platoon Sergeant tried to come up with a intricate plan to break through the siege, but the Corporal was tired of what he perceived as stalling and reportedly shouted 'Alright, times up! Let's do this!', and charged the enemy head on…"

* * *

Awarding over twenty people numerous awards – including two more Star of Terra medals – took roughly two hours, and once the ceremony was over people started to mingle and hors d'oeuvres and drinks were on offer. 'Important' people clamored to get a photo and a handshake with the awardees, but Shepard was the center of attention and he had to soldier through the awkwardness of it all.

Shepard, having left his peaked cap at the hotel's coat check, managed to flee to a bar and ordered up a drink, taking a moment to relax at a small, round bar table and sipped on the drink while he was people watching, searching for Miranda in the sea of people.

From a small group of people Kahlee Sanders approached Shepard, "John?"

Shepard straightened himself and greeted, "Ma'am."

"Please don't call me that," Sanders smiled and stopped near him. "Kahlee is fine."

"Yes, of course, Kahlee," Shepard said a bit embarrassed.

Sanders looked at the glass on the table, "Enjoying yourself, John?"

Shepard grumbled a bit under his breath and said, "Just escaping all the attention for a moment."

"I understand that," Sanders replied sympathetically.

Shepard reached into his pants pocket and produced the small box with Anderson's Star of Terra.

"I want you to have this," Shepard offered.

Sanders reached out and closed Shepard's hand around the box and held Shepard's hand in hers.

Sander's said softly, "No, John, it's yours. I have other memories and mementos of David, I don't need the military's medals to remember him. You were close to him as well."

"That's not fair," Shepard replied quietly.

"It's alright," Sanders assured him softly.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Shepard whispered, his voice cracking a bit.

"Don't, it's not your fault, I don't blame you," Sanders assured Shepard. She still held on to his hand and caressed gently. She looked in Shepard's eyes and whispered, "I blame the Reapers. I blame Cerberus. But I don't blame you, John." Sanders' voice cracked a bit to but she held it together.

"Thank you," Shepard replied grateful.

"If you ever need to talk, you have my number and e-mail," Sanders replied gently.

"Yeah," Shepard replied. "Thanks."

"Be strong, Commander."

Shepard nodded.

"It was good to talk to you, I think the ceremony was beautiful. Admiral Hackett held a good speech in David's memory."

"He did," Shepard agreed.

"I'll talk to you later," Sanders said and let go of Shepard's hand. She smiled, "Please, enjoy the evening, John."

"Copy that, Kahlee," Shepard smiled back.

Kahlee left Shepard and returned to her group to mingle.

Shepard looked around some more, looking for Miranda when he spotted the burly and squared jawed James Vega with his short Mohawk haircut seated in one of the many couches and was occupied with chatting up a woman, with black hair wearing a tight and colorful mini dress.

During the later part of the war Vega and Ashley Williams had started a relationship of convenience, intimacy and sex surely was one way of coping with the stress and horrors of war, but sometime after the war both of them had amicably ended the relationship. Ashley had since left the Normandy team for a new assignment leading Alliance peacekeepers on the battered Citadel so she could be near her sisters who survived the Citadel Reaper siege – sadly their mother had been killed on the Presidium when the Reapers attacked. The Reapers had launched multiple attacks against the Citadel with an assault through the mass relay in Serpent Nebula while they had also sent ground forces through the mass relay monument on the Presidium after they had invaded a Council science base on Ilos and restarted the prothean conduit on the planet. At the time of the Reaper assault the Williams-sisters had been elsewhere on the Citadel while their mother had stayed in the Presidium apartment and rested.

During the Normandy-ceremony Ashley had been promoted to Second Lieutenant from Third Lieutenant, and both Vega and Ashley had been awarded the Medal of Gallantry which was the third highest Alliance military decoration, and Vega had also been awarded the Sacrifice Medal for wounds inflicted during the Battle of London. Vega had been grievously wounded when he had been hit by artillery shrapnel but had recuperated after the war, although he had lost a lot of weight and had to build up his strength and stamina again.

Shepard noticed movement on his left, a dark haired beauty in a revealing dress sauntered over with a sway to her hips, Shepard's search for his paramour was over.

He turned to the left with a warm smile but was suddenly surprised when the woman wasn't Miranda but Columbia Rios.

Rios smiled friendly with an amused little laugh, "Commander Shepard, I didn't know you would be this happy to see me."

Shepard was a bit flustered but smiled friendly, "Ms. Rios, good evening."

"Please don't call me that," Rios purred a bit when she stopped at Shepard. "Columbia is fine." She offered her dainty hand and they shook hands. "We met on the Citadel during that fund raiser last year, your friend snapped a photo of you and me."

"I remember Ms. Rios-" there was a beat and Shepard smiled and corrected himself, "Columbia. I still have it." Shepard sipped on his drink.

Rios smiled slyly, "Do you now?" She asked friendly, "Can I call you, John, Commander? Titles and ranks are so boring."

"That's fine."

"Good," Rios smiled satisfied.

A waitress was walking amongst the tables, couches and the bars with a plate of tall champagne glasses filled with sparkly win. Rios smiled and waved her over and took one of the glasses and thanked the young woman.

"You seemed quite comfortable hosting this ceremony," Shepard observed, initiating some small talk.

"I'm honored to host this event, John," Rios said genuinely with a disarming smile. "I've hosted several of these for the past months, and I'm doing all these events pro bono, it doesn't feel right to take money honoring our brave humans. I truly enjoy meeting the men and women of our military who fought the war very admirably. It's rewarding." She smiled and leaned forward, "And a lot of young men and women get a kick out of meeting me." She sipped on the champagne and peered at Shepard over the glass, locking her piercing and beautiful violet eyes with Shepard's blue eyes keeping him in her gaze.

Shepard was immediately star struck, "I can imagine that." He continued enthusiastically, "I'm a big fan of your work, Columbia. I watched Cleopatra for the umpteenth time during the trip here. I love your performance in that film, it's so raw and emotional. And it's such an epic film, the big naval battle is very cool."

Rios' eyes sparkled and she smiled, "I think you told me that last year, John." She reminisced, "I loved playing such a calculated and strong queen and flirty seductress." She continued with a smooth and seductive voice, "She was definitely not afraid to bare it all for what she wanted." Rios winked an eye sexily, "Neither am I, it was not too hard to play those final scenes."

"The finale is very mesmerizing," Shepard continued star struck.

Shepard was delighted and thrilled that Rios had sought him out, she was charming and it was obvious that she was trying to flirt with him, but he returned to reality and was aware this was about to enter into territory that would make Miranda uncomfortable and since Miranda was expected to be on her best behavior he really shouldn't be testing her patience by humoring Rios for too long. Considering their earlier talk in the hotel room he needed to prevent any scene in which Miranda could be slandered, so it was best to avoid them before they even began. Shepard would give Rios a few minutes of his time and then excuse himself and find Miranda.

"As it was supposed to be," Rios purred.

"I also love Legend of Atlantis, a great and fun adventure film," Shepard said eager.

Rios laughed musically, "Yes, Atlantis, a great little homage to the classic adventure serials of the 20th century. I enjoyed playing the heroine Sophia, she's a wild ride but there's sweetness to her."

"That's why I like her," Shepard agreed with a nod and drank the last of his drink.

Rios found Shepard's star struck attitude very endearing, a tad of innocence she didn't believe he had, a boyish charm. She was confident everything was going according to plan and that seducing the young man wouldn't be difficult. The actress leaned forward with a smile, keeping herself in Shepard's focus.

* * *

Miranda was across the room near a similar small table and watched Shepard talking with his teenage celebrity-crush in the other end of the crowded room. Miranda had an impassive and neutral exterior but she was not enthused as Columbia Rios leaned forward, showing of her deep cleavage, with an alluring smile and played with the ends of her long dark hair. Miranda was annoyed.

"Well, good evening," an asari friendly voice said out of nowhere to Miranda's right.

Miranda was startled by the sudden interruption, but didn't show it. She turned to face an asari with light blue complexion, colorful facial markings and blue eyes. She wore a light green long dress with a spliced pattern around the stomach and a generous cleavage.

"Yes?" Miranda asked friendly, keeping up appearances.

The tipsy asari smiled intrigued as her eyes took in the full sight of Miranda's body, "Your…aura is quite vivid. The energy coming off you is just so…mesmerizing."

Bloody hell, Miranda thought annoyed with the asari staring at her. And that 'aura' would be my annoyance with my dear fiancé and his celebrity crush. And now you.

"Teviamey," the asari introduced herself and offered her hand.

Miranda shook hands with the asari and smiled, "Miranda." Although her patience was running a bit thin, usually she would have not so nicely dismissed the asari, but she had to keep up appearances.

Teviamey cut to the point, "I have always enjoyed human beverages, and the Alliance has some of the best wine here tonight, how about we take a drink together, Miranda?"

Miranda faked an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, but I'm already spoken for."

"Oh," Teviamey said a bit disappointed. "Who's the lucky person?"

"Commander Shepard," Miranda simply said.

Teviamey was a bit intrigued and wouldn't let that stop her, "Oh, Commander Shepard, you say? Well..." she continued cautiously, "have either of you have ever considered…experimenting with an asari-"

Miranda cut of the asari firmly, "No threesomes have ever been considered."

"To bad," Teviamey said disappointed, and she understood the hint by Miranda. She bid her farewell with a cordial smile, "Have a good evening."

"You too, Teviamey," Miranda said friendly.

The asari sauntered away.

Bloody hell, Miranda cursed.

From Miranda's left side a tipsy Oriana showed up.

"Randa! This party is great," Oriana said happily and care free. She continued slyly, "And there's a lot of hot guys around." She eyed the asari walking away with interest, "And even a few asari. Who's she?"

Miranda mumbled, "Some asari hitting on me."

"You should have sent her to me instead," Oriana giggled.

Miranda frowned and looked at her younger sister and protested, "Ori, I do not need to hear about your sexual escapades."

"I haven't had any tonight!" Oriana exclaimed teasingly.

Miranda's shoulder sagged as she sighed.

Oriana wrapped around her sister in a big hug from the side and looked concerned at Miranda.

"You look annoyed, more than you usually do when I tease you."

"Columbia Rios is flirting with John," Miranda said bothered and looked at Shepard and Rios across the room.

Oriana rested her head on Miranda's shoulder and looked across the room and saw Shepard with Rios.

Oriana realized, "Oh…I saw her give him some looks during the speech and the photo-op."

Miranda snorted.

"John looks…like he is enjoying himself," Oriana said cautiously.

"Rios is John's teenage celebrity-crush so of course he's enjoying himself when his fantasy crush is fawning over him," Miranda dismissed snarky.

Oriana giggled amused, "Really? Big bad Commander Shepard has a celebrity crush?" She stopped giggling and frowned as she realized, "Wait, she's like almost sixty." Oriana giggled again and looked up from Miranda' shoulder and glanced amused at her older sister, "Well, he seems to like older women."

"He's got a fascination with the vid Cleopatra…" Miranda continued miffed.

"Well, she was really good as Cleopatra," Oriana replied evenly. "A really heart-breaking performance in the end when Marc Antony is dying in her arms. She got an Academy Award for that role I think."

Miranda snorted incredulous, "Like he watched the vid for the performance. No, she was completely nude in the final 30 minutes, that's why." Miranda continued haughty, "And she was probably digitally enhanced in post production. The effects people did a marvelous job, really, too bad they weren't awarded for that."

Oriana shrugged matter-of-factly, "She is hot and she hasn't aged much since." She saw Miranda's eyes darken and she quickly corrected herself, "Eh…well, you know, if you like elcor-looking skanks."

"She is," Miranda drawled annoyed.

Oriana started rambling, "All the guys here are politicians, businessmen and military. The politicians and the businessmen I can be without, but the military are fine I guess." She sighed dreamy, "But there's no real man candy. Like why couldn't Rios have brought some hot male actors with her?" She purred, "Kevin Joven is soooo hot, I would jump on him in an instant and fuck him over and over for hours." She giggled. "He wouldn't be able to walk when I'm done with him." Oriana sighed amorous, "So many fantasies I have with that man." She finally noticed Miranda's eyes darken even more and realized her rambling was exactly what Miranda was ticked off about with Rios and Shepard. Oriana said cautiously, "Uhm…maybe I'm not helping."

Miranda was annoyed, her eyes still fixed on Columbia Rios, "No, you're not, sweet Oriana."

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away," Oriana said sheepishly. She looked at Miranda concerned and asked softly, "You don't trust you fiancé?"

Miranda deflated and said much softer, "Of course I trust him." She narrowed her eyes on Rios and said bothered, "It's the floozies that should stay away from him."

Oriana was amused by her sister's jealousy, "Well, this can't stand can it? That skank isn't supposed to be fawning over your property." She glanced at her sister's engagement ring, "If the engagement ring he has doesn't mark him as your property you have to step in and solve this."

Miranda blurted out determined, "Definitely, and I don't share my property-" Miranda stopped and returned to reality, realizing quickly what her possessiveness made her say.

Oriana laughed and Miranda shook her head exasperated at both Oriana and her own slip up.

Oriana looked at Miranda's dress and flattered, "And look at you in that dress! He shouldn't even talk to another woman, his eyes should be glued to you because you're sexy and awesome."

Miranda became calmer and turned her head to face Oriana. She was happier and very flattered.

"Thanks, Ori."

"Now show that skank who's boss."

"I will," Miranda said determined.

"Go get her, girl," Oriana cheered. "I'll stay here."

Oriana released Miranda who left and walked across the crowded hall floor. The closer she got she started to hear snippets of what Shepard and Rios were discussing which seemed to be about the actress' career. Miranda put on a charming smile and sparkly eyes as she came up behind Shepard.

"John, darling," Miranda said charming as ever. "Is the man of the hour enjoying himself?"

Shepard looked around and smiled at his paramour, but he had a sixth sense about her. He knew she was not happy with him talking to his fantasy crush. Which he thought was silly because Miranda was the love of his life. Miranda could be neurotic from time to time, and he had to love her beautiful side as well as all her quirks.

Miranda stopped and kissed Shepard's lips which he reciprocated. She had a hand on his back and caressed him. In the corner of her eyes she saw Rios going from amorously flirtatious to crestfallen but quickly hid it behind a cordial face. Rios straightened herself from the table.

Score: Miranda 1, Rios 0.

Shepard smiled happily and assured, "I'm having a good time."

Miranda smiled back, "Of course you do." She turned to Rios and offered her hand, "Miranda Lawson, John's fiancé." She pointed out to assert ownership of her property but was still very cordial, "Future wife."

Rios shook hands with Miranda and said cordial, "Columbia Rios."

"Yes, of course. The evening's hostess. John and I saw the historical epic Cleopatra on the journey here. John's got quite the fascination with you. Fortunate circumstances for him to meet you."

Rios was still cordial and smiled faintly, but was internally disappointed being cock blocked, "Fortunate indeed."

Miranda turned to Shepard, "Well, darling, I'll be over there with Oriana." She gestured to the side. "See you soon."

"Of course," Shepard replied.

Miranda turned to Rios and said cordial, "A good evening to you, Ms. Rios."

"You to, Ms. Lawson."

Miranda walked away with a bit of swaying hips, returning to Oriana.

Oriana was exuberant, "Good work, Randa! You should have seen the skank's face when you kissed John."

Miranda grinned victoriously, "Oh, I did, Oriana."

Oriana reached for two tall champagne glasses on the small table near her. She said delightful, "And look what I found! Bubbly champagne." She handed a glass to Miranda, "A cute waiter walked by and I had to grab me some."

Miranda sipped on the champagne with a delightful smirk how she had bested Columbia Rios.

Oriana noted that Shepard approached and faced Miranda and said gleeful, "Oh, look who returns, Randa."

Miranda gave Shepard an aloof look when he stopped at her side, "Commander."

Oriana giggled, "Oh, you're in trouble now, John, fawning over other women."

"I did no such thing," Shepard protested and put an arm around Miranda's waist and kissed her cheek.

Miranda sipped on her champagne and decided to push Shepard's buttons, "Do you know a tall, beautiful asari flirted with me just minutes ago?"

"What?" Shepard's possessive streak took over and he pulled Miranda closer and snorted, "They should stay away from you."

Oriana laughed amused before she drank some champagne.

Miranda grinned with amused eyes peering over the brim of the glass as she sipped on more champagne.

"Is Commander Shepard jealous?" Miranda asked.

Shepard snorted, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, now you understand my annoyance with floozies fawning after you." Miranda cooed theatrically, "'Oh, Commander Shepard, you're so amazing…'" Miranda snorted and dropped the act, "If they knew you they'd change their tune quickly."

Shepard looked amused at Miranda and wiggled his eyebrows childishly, vividly remembering their debauchery in the morning, where her tune had been very different.

"I'm dating a child," Miranda rolled her eyes.

Oriana laughed, enjoying the back and forth between the couple.

Shepard shrugged and took Miranda's glass and tasted the champagne, "Eh, the courting period is long gone, now all the quirks shows up."

"Yes, like a fawning over a celebrity crush who is an elcor looking skank," Miranda countered dismissively and took back the champagne glass.

"She does not look like an elcor," Shepard protested.

Miranda peered at Shepard with amused eye and sipped on the champagne, "But I got you to admit she's a skank."

"I can go back to her," Shepard dared.

Miranda narrowed her eyes and warned, "If you don't value your manhood, go ahead."

Oriana snorted to try and contain her laughter.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and countered amused, "They say I'm one of the most dangerous people around, so that's quite the optimistic threat coming from you."

Miranda rolled her eyes, "Watch it, this hall can't contain your ego, Commander," Miranda tapped the Star of Terra around his neck with a dainty finger. She grinned predatory, "But by now you should know I use subterfuge to get an upper hand, John. I'm a spy after all."

"Not fair," Shepard protested.

Miranda drank the last of the champagne and shrugged, "Everything's fair in love and war, remember that." She put away the glass on the table.

Shepard smiled goofy at Miranda and kissed her cheek again, "I love you my troubleshooting space diva."

Miranda smiled warmly, a complete change in attitude, "I love you to, my childish dork." She kissed his cheek.

Oriana laughed amused, "You two are to funny and cute together." Oriana swiped down the last of her champagne and said exuberant, "Well, I'll leave this love story for now, 'cause I gonna nail some hot guy tonight. Or maybe I'll chase down that asari that flirted with you, Randa. Asari are fun."

Miranda rolled her eyes tiredly.

Oriana put down the glass and beamed with a silly wave, "Ta-Ta."

Oriana turned on her heels and strolled away.

"You're sister is quite something," Shepard chuckled to himself.

Oriana had the ability to effortlessly be carefree, optimistic, charming and quite flirty, and she was also very smart, focused and dedicated when it came to her work. As part of her college degree she had been working as an apprentice in colony construction on Horizon when the war broke out and later she worked at a refugee center on the planet. She definitely had a big heart and wanted to help people. The determined younger sister didn't want to leave the planet even with both Miranda and her mother insisting she do, Oriana wanted to help refugees, much to both Miranda's and Oriana's parent's dismay. Through bad luck Oriana had been kidnapped by Cerberus on Horizon and taken to a refugee center on the planet – which in reality was a Cerberus science station where Henry Lawson had conducted horrific experiments on unsuspecting refugees to learn the secrets of indoctrination.

After the Normandy had rescued Oriana she had been taken to Forward Operating Base Crucible in the Terminus Systems where the allied forces had been constructing the Crucible – Hackett had agreed to take her in for safekeeping, but obviously there was a downside to it as the Alliance wanted to debrief her, they were very interested to learn anything they could about Cerberus operations at Sanctuary, plus they were worried about any potential indoctrination. Oriana had been treated fair and was not indoctrinated. Once the Crucible had fired Oriana was stuck at FOB Crucible for months until enough mass relays had been repaired and she could once again be reunited with first Miranda but also later her parents. Oriana had been recruited by the Alliance to aid with coordinating the rebuilding efforts in Sol on one of the surviving space stations.

Miranda huffed, "The things she says and does…she's worse than me at that age. And half the time she does all these things to tease me."

"A twenty year old Miranda would be interesting to meet," Shepard confessed.

"I bet," Miranda snorted. She softened, "Well, I'm happy she has a good time, after being kidnapped, and then being separated from her parents and me for months, she needs to unwind." That was why she had invited Oriana to join them on Intai'sei for the Victory Day celebrations.

"Me to, Miri," Shepard said and kissed her cheek again. "What about you?"

"Well, I can be with my two favorite people so I'm happy," Miranda smiled and kissed Shepard's lips which he reciprocated. "You?"

"Yeah, I'm with my super spy fiancé so I couldn't be happier," Shepard smiled.

"Good," Miranda smiled.

Suddenly there was a loud pop not far from the couple, and then rapidly another. Shepard recoiled and his breathing froze, his head turned to the sound and his mind put the sound of dropships buzzing in his head, people screaming in pain, the muffled thunder of distant explosions, the haunting synthesized Reaper howling echoed, and the scent of dried blood welled up. His mind went into combat mode for a second before he saw that it had been a bunch of Marines and sailors popping champagne at a table, laughing and enjoying themselves. It was the sudden, unprepared noises that made Shepard edgy in situations where there shouldn't be any.

"John," a worried Miranda implored softly.

Shepard faced Miranda and he was slowly calming down and breathing again. The vivid sounds and smells of war disappeared.

"Sorry," Shepard said.

"Don't be. Are you alright?"

"I will be shortly," Shepard replied and squeezed her body closer.

Miranda wrapped her arms around Shepard shoulder and locked her azure and loving eyes to his.

"Focus on me, babe, much more pleasant, really," Miranda said softly and gave him a reassuring smile that she wasn't going anywhere.

Miranda worried about the posttraumatic stress disorder episodes he had experienced during and after the war. The nights were the hardest as he wasn't always sleeping well and he was all over the place with vivid nightmares, flashbacks, and finally screaming and crying if the nightmares were about Anderson. At times he would be afraid to sleep because of the nightmares he was having.

But she was going to be there for him no matter what, he had been such a rock for her, and had always been very patient with her even when she had turned on him and unfairly made him a scapegoat after Oriana had been kidnapped, unfairly putting all the blame on him. They had worked out the issues and repaired the damage, that's how strong their love was. But the vivid nightmares worried Miranda the most as they had started during the Reaper War after the prothean Javik had merged minds with Shepard after they had extracted him from Eden Prime. The real and vivid aspects were certainly a side effect from the extrasensory mind exchange. And she hated the prothean for that.

"I love you," Shepard said grateful and kissed her lips.

Miranda reciprocated and smiled on his lips, "I love you to, John."

"I know you aren't much for public display of affection, but thank you."

"I'm here for you," Miranda assured him.

"I know."

Miranda looked at the people in the hall and spotted Oriana talking with a young Alliance Navy officer who was clearly very intrigued by her sister. The officer was in his late twenties, tall and with short blonde hair and light complexion.

Miranda snorted dull, "Obviously she's chatting with somebody in the military."

Miranda had, despite her choice in fiancé, an aversion to military personnel having dealt with more than her fair share in her former days of Cerberus clandestine operations. To her they were all stupid, arrogant, self-centered and glory-seeking jerks. Miranda wasn't keen on Oriana being taken advantage of while tipsy. If Miranda had her way she'd lock away Oriana in her hotel room to deny her having sex she would definitely regret…while Miranda herself would have sex that she would never regret.

Shepard, well versed in Miranda's idiosyncrasies and neuroticism, knew how she felt about military personnel from her past – be it right or wrong assumptions. He glanced at the officer, he remembered him from the ceremony – a naval aviator who had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary service in combat.

"Hmm, thats the pilot who led the strike fighters that provided CAS for us at Tuchanka," Shepard informed.

During the Battle for Tuchanka, while Shepard and his team battled husks and tried to deploy the geonphage cure and lure in the legendary Thresher Maw Kalros to take down a Reaper Destroyer, the Alliance supercarrier in the system had diverted F/A-60 Strike Raptors to provide close air support. The Battle of Tuchanka had been a massive space and planetary battle with Alliance Navy and Hierarchy Navy assets assisting the Krogan Horde. There had been numerous allied losses – including Shepard's close friend Mordin Solus – but the battle was won and Wrex committed his clan and his allies to the war effort.

Miranda softened slightly, "Well, he has my thanks for that, but that doesn't mean I want Oriana to chat up military personnel."

Shepard knew how overprotective Miranda could be regarding Oriana, and with her chatting with a young officer he couldn't help but to be overprotective as well because he knew exactly how some of these young military guys could be when it came to young and pretty women, because partying and sex was the norm for these guys. He had been one himself a decade earlier – although with wildly varying degrees of success when it came to women.

Shepard's eyes lit up shrewdly, "You know, I haven't thanked him for his help during the battle. I ought to share a drink with him to show my appreciation for assisting us."

Miranda looked at Shepard surprised, "You're going to…interfere?" She was surprised as Shepard had always showed a bit of a lax attitude to her sister's shenanigans.

"Young military guys…I know how they are. I've been one."

Miranda had an evil grin, "I guess you have to thank him then."

Shepard let go of Miranda and kissed her cheek. He assured her, "I'll be back later."

"Thank you," Miranda said grateful. She was quite pleased that he would help her with this, she wasn't enthused that Oriana would get entangled in a one night stand with somebody in the military. She teased, "But do hurry, you never know what imbeciles will try to hit on me when you leave."

"Real funny, Lawson," Shepard retorted. He tilted his head to Oriana and the officer, "Maybe I should let them be?"

Miranda clenched her teeth momentarily and assured Shepard, "I'll keep the imbeciles at bay."

"That's right," Shepard replied victoriously and left his fiancé.

Shepard approached Oriana and the young officer and he could hear Oriana in full charm and flirty mode. Shepard took a quick glance at the officer's rank insignia on his shoulders.

"Lieutenant," Shepard called out as he neared his target.

The aviator was bewildered by the interruption and turned to the sound of the voice, and when he saw that it was Shepard, a superior officer, he instantly stood at attention and saluted.

"Sir," the Lieutenant replied with a tinge of French accent.

Oriana, having already recognized the voice, watched Shepard cautiously what he was doing there.

Shepard saluted back, "Commander John Shepard."

"I know, sir," the Lieutenant replied taken aback being addressed by humanity's hero. "Lieutenant Senior Grade Christophe Lanata."

"Good to meet you, Lieutenant," Shepard smiled charmingly and offered his hand and both officers shook hands. Shepard continued sincere even if he had ulterior motives, "I wanted to thank you for the support you gave us on Tuchanka last year, with your help, and your fellow aviators, we completed our mission and in the long run ensured our victory in the war."

"Eh, of course, sir, no problem," Lanata replied with a mixture of confusion, gratefulness, but also a bit crestfallen being interrupted while talking with a beautiful woman.

"I'd like to have a drink with you, Lieutenant."

Lanata was stunned and also a bit conflicted, "I- eh, sir, maybe not-"

"Nonsense," Shepard smiled and put his arm over the officer's shoulders. Shepard insisted friendly, "Let's go, Lieutenant, don't make me order you."

Shepard pushed the pilot forward as he walked next to him. Lanata looked confused over his shoulder at an equally confused Oriana and back to Shepard and started to fret, "But, sir I was talking to-"

"Oriana, yes, my future sister-in-law," Shepard filled in. "Let's go, Lieutenant and let's have a beer or two." He assured Lanata, "You'll be fine in my company. So, where are you from?"

Shepard led the reluctant Lieutenant towards one of the bars across the room while a stunned Oriana watched them leave.

Oriana suddenly frowned and looked at the direction of Miranda, who was now casually sipping on a new glass of champagne which she had grabbed from a waiter. Oriana knew who the culprit in the cock blocking was and hurriedly walked over.

Miranda noted her sister walking towards her and when she got closer Miranda said calmly, "Enjoying yourself, Ori?"

Oriana, annoyed, stopped at Miranda and glared, "You-!"

"I'm completely innocent," Miranda assured Oriana calmly and sipped on her champagne.

"I don't believe you," Oriana grumbled.

"It was all John's idea, really. After all, he's been a young officer in the past, he knows exactly how young military guys are among tipsy girls."

Oriana snorted incredulously, "And I'm sure you protested his idea of cock blocking me." She protested, "That pilot was hot. Sexy accent to."

Miranda shrugged and implored with a gesture to a second champagne glass, "Have a drink with your older sister."

Oriana breathed out tired of her sister's interference but deflated and nodded, "Fine." She shook her head annoyed and took the glass, "Just because you can fuck John regularly doesn't mean I don't need some dick to."

Miranda rolled her eyes unrepentant, "John just saved you from having sex you would regret."

"You don't know that," Oriana snorted and sipped on her champagne.

* * *

 **Codex entry:** **Systems Alliance Military Ranks**

Paygrade: Navy Rank/Marine Forces Rank

Enlisted:

E1: Serviceman/Private

E2: Serviceman First Class/Private First Class

E3: Senior Serviceman/Lance Corporal

E4: Specialist/Corporal

E5: Petty Officer Third Class/Sergeant

E6: Petty Officer Second Class/Staff Sergeant

E7: Petty Officer First Class/Gunnery Sergeant

E8: Junior Chief Petty Officer/Junior Chief Warrant Officer

E9: Senior Chief Petty Officer/Senior Chief Warrant Officer

E10: Master Chief Petty Officer/Master Chief Warrant Officer

Special: Command Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy/Command Master Chief Warrant Officer of the Marine Forces

Officer:

O-1: Ensign/Third Lieutenant

O-2: Lieutenant Junior Grade/Second Lieutenant

O-3: Lieutenant Senior Grade/First Lieutenant

O-4: Lieutenant Commander/Major

O-5: Commander/Lieutenant Colonel

O-6: Captain/Colonel

O-7: Rear Admiral/Brigadier General

O-8: Counter Admiral/Major General

O-9: Vice Admiral/Lieutenant General

O-10: Admiral/General

Special: Fleet Admiral/Commandant General

* * *

 **Parts of the Star of Terra speech are inspired from actual Medal of Honor speeches.**

 **Thanks to EbabahCussiEnoImreh for ideas on;** **parts of Miranda's musings after Shepard returns to the table; asari approaching Miranda; Oriana rambling about the male crowd and her own celebrity crush; Miranda locking up Oriana; Shepard overprotective of Oriana; inspiration for dialogue between the sisters.**


	3. Normalcy in Dark Times

Miranda smiled satisfied as she held Shepard's hand and led him down the hotel floor corridor to their room. It had been quite a good evening during the ceremony, and both of them had consumed a lot of fine wine and had enjoyed each other's company and both felt a comfortable buzz through their bodies. Miranda had a sway to her hips and butt for Shepard who admired Miranda's backside and wavy hair and she walked him urgently down the hall. A horny anticipation rapidly built inside her just thinking about what debauchery they would be doing for the rest of the night.

Shepard unashamedly watched every inch of her gorgeous shapes and reached out to pinch and grope Miranda's ass through the thin fabric of her mini dress and Miranda offered content purrs for him with an amused look over her shoulders at him. Shepard's heartbeats surged and his breathing was ragged while he was getting a bit harder.

Miranda held up her arm with her omni-tool bracelet and let the intricate door computer read her credentials and the door unlocked with a faint his and slid open.

The couple strolled in as the door closed behind them.

Shepard turned to face Miranda when she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply and burying her soft and wet tongue in his mouth which Shepard quickly reciprocated and his tongue entwined with hers and they kissed intense and hurriedly. Their tongues battled between gasps and breaths as Shepard pulled Miranda tighter to him and reached with both his hands to grope her perky but which elicited a soft moan from his paramour.

Miranda's hands unclipped the Star of Terra neck ribbon carefully and stopped kissing him and both breathed heavily. She leaned away from him and removed the ribbon. With one hand free she unbuttoned a chest pocket and placed the ribbon there with a smile. With that done her dainty hands started undoing the buttons of his shirt.

Shepard pressed his lips to hers and they kissed and murmured passionately again. His hands slid up her curved and gorgeous back and pulled down on the zipper to loosen her mini dress which his slid down her body, the tight mini dress practically peeled away from Miranda's body and she wiggled her hips to help him pull it down her waist. Shepard reached the waistband of her cute little thong, there his fingers grabbed onto her thong and he slid them past her waist and let both garments fall down her long legs.

"I've wanted you the entire evening, babe," Shepard proclaimed through their kisses, her full lips felt great against his and he was even hornier and harder than before with Miranda stark naked in his arms. Shepard's hands slid up her sides to her bountiful breasts which he cupped and caressed gently, enjoying their feel and the warmth of her skin. He took her nipples between his fingers and coaxed them harder to Miranda's enduring moans.

"I've wanted you to," Miranda breathed heavily and moaned wantonly between their kissing as she grinded into Shepard's erection beneath his trousers which was getting even harder; Miranda was literally dripping between her legs. Miranda pulled his shirt off his shoulders and made Shepard reluctantly let go of her body so she could remove it. Shepard hurriedly pulled away the white t-shirt he had underneath and both shirts were tossed to the side.

"Goddess, you're wet, you naughty minx," Shepard said amused as he could feel her wetness against him as she grinded him more vigorously. Shepard wrapped around her again with an arm around her waist and the other fondling one of her ample breasts while they kissed more to their breathing and moaning. Shepard gave her a firm squeeze of one of her ripe butt cheeks and Miranda murmured into his mouth.

Miranda bit Shepard's bottom lip lustfully with sparkly eyes and her hands desperately undid Shepard's belt and worked on his buttons and zipper. She reached inside his boxer shorts as the trousers fell down and wrapped her hand around his stiff erection and could feel it pulsing while Shepard groaned and his heart rate spiked. She started to stroke him and Shepard shivered in anticipation and moaned into her mouth.

Miranda let go of Shepard's erection to pull down his black boxers and left him practically naked in front of her save his smile as he unashamedly stared at her.

The lovers quickly kicked away the clothes around their feet and swiftly removed their shoes before engaged in another passionate kiss, sucking and biting on each other's tongues and Miranda continued to stroke him while one of Shepard's hands slid between Miranda's leg and across her neatly shaved, puffy and bulging pussy, gliding through her wetness which made her body tense and shiver with a ragged moan of pleasure. They both stepped over to the bed, busy with exploring, kissing and touching.

"Lie down," Miranda murmured breathless.

Shepard obeyed and lied down and slid up the bed and rested his head on the pillows and Miranda's eyes settled on his. She looked saucily at him, admiring his gorgeous body and erection, soon a wicked grin spread on her cute mouth and she gave him the slightest hint of an eyebrow flick and giggled to herself. Miranda crawled onto and began kissing Shepard hard and fast down his chest, licked and biting on his nipples and muscles, letting her dainty fingers travel ever so slightly over his body as well which made Shepard shiver. One hand travelled down his toned stomach and grasped his erection and started to stroke him as she kissed and nibbled, she gave him long squeezing strokes and Shepard groaned in response.

Miranda dragged her wet lips and tongue down his chest and stomach, making him breathe heavily in arousal. Miranda looked up and their eyes met again, Miranda had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she kissed down his lower abdomen knowing fully how much she was teasing him when she positioned herself between his toned legs. She let go of his sex still looked at her lover with a naughty smile and Shepard smiled back in love. Miranda finally stopped teasing and devoured him while caressing his stomach and chest, her fingers drew slow circles on his soft skin, and her eyes never left his as she expertly worked on his erection with her head bobbing up and down.

Shepard moaned deeply but kept his eyes locked on hers, loving her pleasurable ministrations and loving the expressive blue irises looking up at him. Her thick, wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders as her head bobbed energetically and alternating the speed and matching his ragged and aroused breathing, making Shepard groan and shuddered as waves of pleasure ran through him.

Miranda responded back with her own moaning, showing how much she wanted to pleasure him. She was also a bit of a control freak and loved the power she had over him, her own heart rate and arousal spiked, he was quite vulnerable and put a lot of trust on her as she had teeth after all. Her nipples stiffened and warmth and wetness pooled between her legs.

For Miranda it was primal. It was dirty and sexy as hell, and she let those feelings overwhelm her.

Shepard reached out and carefully traced his fingers through her long, soft hair and kept it away from her face and with the other hand he found one of Miranda's dainty hands and squeezed lovingly; he loved her completely and his heart surged even more even though it was already pounding hard. Miranda felt fantastic around him. Shepard's body was glistening with sweat, shuddering and his breathing was stuttered with ragged groans, Miranda moaned back, and Shepard's eyes squeezed shut as he almost pulled away from Miranda but she followed his body movements and still squeezed and caressed his muscular body. He arched his back in pleasure and groaned louder this time as waves of pleasure came over him. He was on the brink of orgasm now.

Shepard gasped heavily for air and his body wracked with pleasure and Miranda's head bobbed up and down, following the rhythm of his breathing while her wet mouth, tongue and lips traced every contour of his manhood and she twirled her tongue with precision accuracy to pleasure him as he tumbled over the edge with a quick succession of moans and groans and eyes shut close as the orgasm exploded. Shepard's body shuddered in the powerful orgasm as Miranda continued working his erection with care, never once stopping her ministrations. The orgasm finally overwhelmed his senses and he collapsed helplessly in the bed, he groaned and breathed heavily as he tried to catch his breath.

Shepard reached out to squeeze both Miranda's hands and her mouth disappeared from his softening and sensitive erection.

"I love you," Shepard murmured, looking up the ceiling.

Miranda squeezed back for a moment before she began kissing his thighs, dragging her damp and sticky lips and tongue across the skin. She was nibbling and licking her way over his stomach again and softly caressing his warm skin, taking care to enjoy his toned muscular body while Shepard was breathing hard and catching his breath.

When she reached his neck she assured softly, "I love you to."

Shepard finally caught his breath and wrapped around Miranda and turned them around on the side as she wrapped around him.

Shepard beamed wide and goofy which made Miranda beam and giggle a bit.

Shepard pressed his lips to Miranda's lips and eagerly kissed her passionately and their wet tongues mingled and Shepard tasted himself. It was not the first time but it tasted a bit odd and sticky, but he was okay with that because he appreciated what she had done for him and he loved her for it. Miranda approved their wanton kissing and purred invitingly. Shepard cupped one of her pert, firm breasts and squeezed and caressed softly and Miranda sighed content.

They stopped kissing and began rubbing the tip of their noses to each other and just enjoyed the moment.

"You amazing woman," Shepard sighed as he stopped the eskimo kiss, still fondling a breast and caressing her back, letting his fingers go up and down the spine slowly. "Thank you."

Miranda purred, "You're welcome."

Shepard beamed, this had to be reciprocated, and he loved going down on her as well. He took hold onto her gorgeously toned body and rolled her over on her back without protest and she smiled with wanton anticipation. He took a moment to take in her body, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her soft bountiful breasts but he looked down her incredibly flat tummy and down the sweet curve of her lower abdomen, her juices was glistening and had leaked to her thighs. Shepard was dying to run his tongue and lips over her bulging pussy.

Noticing his stares Miranda breathed into his ear, "Don't make me wait."

That declaration of love tugged on his heart strings.

Time was wasting.

Shepard began kissing down her neck, and took time to deliver soft, warm, wet kisses and teasingly nibbling on her soft skin. Miranda tensed beneath him and moaned softly.

He ran his tongue down the swell of her breasts and kissed and fondled her breasts and Miranda gasped as her sensitive body felt his caress and fingertips brushing over her nipples. Her body was buzzing with wanton excitement, Shepard worked his way between her breasts and kissed and licked before he moved to one and gave it some attention with soft, hot kisses and circling her nipple which hardened to the tip of is wet tongue. He bit gently to the nipple and properly groped the other breast and Miranda groaned. He dragged his glistening mouth to the other breast and delivered more kisses and nibbling while fondling the other breast, finding the sweet spot that made Miranda shiver in pleasure.

After what felt agonizing long for Miranda he moved down her tight tummy, kissing her wetly and smoothly down her, running back and forth, kissing down her sides. Shepard kissed around her belly button before he sunk his tongue into it which made Miranda squirm and giggle as it sent a funny sensation through her.

Having enjoyed her glistening body Shepard decided it was time to give in and moved sensually down her lower abdomen with more wet kisses, he longed to eat her properly. He planted a loving kiss on the birthmark just above her pussy before he plunged his tongue into her and was greeted with her warm juices. It made her groan sexily and her thighs tensed and shivered and she tightened them around his body under his arms not wanting him to stop. Shepard delved into her and almost made her fold in half from the intensity. Miranda's breathing was ragged and she moaned and groaned and Shepard groaned back while Miranda squirmed and pushed back, grinding her pelvis into Shepard's mouth who followed her movements while devouring more of her as he lovingly kissed, licked and sucked. Miranda's eyes fluttered close and she reached down and caressed Shepard's caressed head, but wantonly keeping him in place to service her.

Shepard looked up her body and her soft jiggling breasts and took in her beauty and perfect features. Shepard let his hands slid up her stomach to her breasts where he cupped and caressed them and felt her cute little nipples which elicited further moans from Miranda. Miranda opened her eyes and looked down on him in ecstasy and saw how much he loved coaxing a orgasm out of her. Miranda's eyes spoke wonders about what she felt and wanted and Shepard wasn't going to stop, he picked up the pace of lapping and licking.

Miranda's pussy leaked into the bed cover as Shepard assaulted her sensitive sex with his tongue and lips, his good licking made her body tense up and voice pushed out a strangled sigh of pleasure. Her skin prickling and back arched back. She was panting huskily and soon her sexily seductive voice began moaning louder as he sucked and kissed her. She loved the sensation of him devouring her and lapping rapidly. Shepard's hands slid down her sides of her alluring body and waist, loving how it felt having a real woman with him and stroking her smooth toned sides. Her body was shuddering and she clung to his head, pressing him as close as she could because she was close now.

Her breaths were stuttered and her ragged moans was pitching and she squeezed shut her eyes as she exploded in orgasm. Miranda's body trembled, she rolled her hips as his tongue danced over her sex. Miranda bucked and moaned and soon let out a loud squeal in ecstasy which overwhelmed her senses helplessly and her strong thighs clung to Shepard's body. She rode out the blissful orgasm and it faded. Miranda gasped for breath and collapsed in the bed cover and shivered, her sex was extremely delicate and untouchable and throbbed, the orgasm had sapped all her strength as she laid splayed and filling her lungs with air.

Shepard planted one final kiss on her sensitive sex - he couldn't stop himself - and Miranda tensed up and shooed him away as she released her thighs around him. She caressed his head gently before Shepard pulled away from her pelvis. Miranda looked down with a flushed and sweaty face, but with a very content smile as she looked at her beautiful man. Shepard smiled and kissed her stomach.

Miranda reached out for his face and coaxed him up and he gladly crawled up her body and lay down next to her and they wrapped around each other and kissed in love and tasting their bodily fluids. The deep kiss continued as Miranda relaxed and gave a long satisfied purr while their tongues mingled and lips nibbled.

Miranda broke the kiss and grinned teasingly, "Good boy, Miranda Lawson have trained you well."

"You're welcome," Shepard replied amorous all the while he was caressing her lower back with one hand and the other hand was on her stomach, travelling up to one of her breasts. He was mesmerized by her presence and body, fondling and caressing without protest.

Miranda reciprocated and caressed the back of his head and neck with one arm and the other roamed his toned stomach. She went a bit lower and her nails teasingly touched the base of his burgeoning erection now pressing against her lower abdomen.

Miranda smiled wide and purred wantonly, "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."

"Yes," Shepard agreed and this time looked into her eyes. He sighed, "I love that sound, Miri."

Miranda smiled sexily and purred long for him.

Shepard hummed and kissed her lips lingering and slowly, their puffy lips were pressed together and their tongues wetly danced.

Miranda stopped the kiss and continued aloof, "I got you wrapped around my finger, I don't even know why I try so hard, really."

Shepard chuckled, "You have a filthy mind, Ms Miri." He kissed her lips tenderly.

Miranda smiled mysteriously, "Maybe..." She kissed his lips tenderly as well, loving their intimate moment in each other's arms. This was her future, and she was happy both had survived the war. Now she just had to keep her noble dolt alive, she had many plans she wanted enacted and he was part of them. She continued in earnest, her eyes never broke contact, "Thank you for that orgasm."

"Always," Shepard smiled in love.

* * *

Shepard and Miranda, dressed casually in the morning, were filling their plates with breakfast offerings from a long buffet table with all manners of food offerings in the hotel's diner hall. Miranda had filled her tray with a fruit salad, porridge, a couple of tomato toasts, fruits, tea and a big yoghurt smoothie – she always tried to eat as much healthy food as possible. Shepard had more of a continental breakfast mix with a lot of pancakes, milk and sandwiches with cheese and ham. Despite the Japanese influences at the hotel they offered both Japanese and continental breakfast.

The hall had a hint of history blended with unique contemporary Japanese style and tasteful lightning. The traditional Japanese design of the interior and a nearby garden terrace with palm trees and an artificial lake created a sumptuous atmosphere. The hall was barely filled with people as most guests were still recuperating from the festivities the night before, but there was a low sound of idle chatter.

Miranda was finished with filling her breakfast plate and left the table and Shepard and wandered down the hall dotted with tables and chairs and saw Oriana, wearing much more casual clothes than the evening before, waving further down the room. The couple had actually wanted to call up room service that morning and just lie in bed for the rest of the morning but Oriana had called and wanted to eat breakfast together so they both agreed, after all, Miranda had invited Oriana with them to Intai'sei because she wanted to spend time with her younger sister.

"Hey!" Oriana beamed. She too had a breakfast tray filled with food and drink.

"Morning," Miranda smiled and sat down in front of Oriana.

"Slept well?" Oriana asked and munched on some waffles.

"Yes," Miranda simply said and sipped on her smoothie.

"Yes, I'm sure," Oriana grinned faintly and sipped on some juice.

Miranda rolled her eyes at the inuendo.

Shepard appeared and sat down, and Oriana and he greeted.

Oriana said, "The food here is very good. I'm surprised actually considering the state of the galaxy. Intai'sei is lucky." The she poked her food a bit wary and frowned, "Doesn't feel completely right enjoying yourself either…"

"I know sweetie," Miranda said sympathetically and reached out to squeeze one of her sister's hands.

Oriana smiled and squeezed back.

Shepard said considerate after having eaten some pancake, "Life goes on, Ori. We've to move on, we can't mull all the dreary stuff all the time. If we do, sooner or later we won't function." He smiled encouraging as well, "Baby steps, we have to enjoy our time together in moments like these."

"Yes, I think you're right, John," Oriana smiled back a bit more encouraged and let go of Miranda's hand.

Miranda smiled, "Good." She poked her fruit salad and ate some.

Oriana reclined in her seat and held on to the tall glass of juice and sipped on it with a grin.

"Well, despite your best efforts I managed to get laid last night," Oriana said aloof.

Shepard rolled his eyes, "We really don't need to know."

Miranda agreed uninspired, "Yes, it's too early for your exploits and exhibitionistic narcissism, honey."

"Prudes," Oriana retorted amused. She assured her sister with an evil grin, "It was not somebody in the military it was one of the cute waiters. So you don't need to worry, Randa, my virtue is still intact."

"You don't have any virtue!" Miranda exclaimed weary.

"Yes I do!" Oriana protested with a laugh. She shrugged shrewdly, "It's just…hidden."

Shepard was amazed by the back and forth. Oriana was almost like Miranda when she was playful, horny and carefree. Totally unfiltered. Only Oriana was unfiltered in public.

"Bloody hell," Miranda mumbled dull.

Oriana drank some juice and put away the glass. She decided she had her fun on her sister's expense and said gladly, "I had a wonderful evening with you two. It's great seeing you two again."

Oriana reached out and squeezed Miranda's hand.

Miranda looked at her sister suspiciously, wondering where she was going.

Oriana rolled her eyes but didn't let go of her sister's hand.

"It's true, Randa. No games."

Miranda smiled back this time, "Thank you, Ori."

"I think so to, it's fun to see you again, Oriana," Shepard smiled and ate some food.

"Thank you," Oriana beamed and let go of Miranda's hand. She ate a bit of a sandwich and asked after finished eating, "Did you enjoy yourself last night, John?"

Shepard shrugged, "I don't know, it was pleasant enough to have some drinks and good time with you two, but I'm not that amused by the medal. I felt embarrassed and awkward standing there, I think most service members did."

"That's too bad," Oriana said evenly.

Shepard smiled, "But I like being with you two so no issues."

"Good," Oriana beamed back.

Miranda was proud over her fiancé, he was not a glory seeker and didn't want recognition. Even if she thought he was a noble idiot most of the time and took to many risks.

"Did you enjoy the ceremony?" Shepard asked and sipped on his beverage.

"Yes, I've never been to a function like this before," Oriana replied. "It was very interesting with all the celebrities, military people and others. It was fun." Oriana considered the couple, "It was good to forget all the dread for a while."

"Told you so, we can't just think about the post-war dread all the time," Shepard said. "We've to shut it out and enjoy life to. It can be awkward, even difficult, but it'll do our psyche good in the long run."

"I'm looking forward to this weekend," Miranda said and drank from the smoothie. "Just being with my family is just what I need." Miranda had never celebrated Christmas with Oriana, nor really celebrated it properly at all in the past, so she was excited to spend time with both Shepard and Oriana.

Shepard kissed Miranda's cheek, "Me too."

Miranda beamed happy.

Truthfully, Miranda was a bit jaded and skeptical with the holidays, she was associating them with her father's false displays of charity and kindness which always had an ulterior motive. Christmas in the Lawson household had never been the merriest of occasions, and since escaping her father she had largely ignored Christmas celebrations. On the other hand, at the end of the Collector mission there had been festivities aboard the Normandy amongst the human crew members and curious aliens, but it had mostly been an excise to get drunk and for the crew to forget about being taken by the Collectors. Shepard and herself? Well, they had shared some wine but retired to her quarters to fuck and cuddle instead. And the year before had been chaos in the immediate aftermath of the Reaper War and Shepard being unconscious and in surgery aboard Hackett's flagship the dreadnought SSV Orizaba (DDG-5) while Miranda had been stuck in the London ruins. But her new life was a chance to create new memories and start new traditions.

Oriana chimed in gladly, "I agree. And there's a little girl that can't wait to meet you two again."

"And we want to meet her again," Shepard assured.

"We miss her," Miranda assured Oriana.

Right after the Battle of London had ended Miranda had stumbled upon a traumatized, dirty little ten year old girl in the ruins. Abigail Hobbs had lost everything in the war, her parents had been murdered by indoctrinated, and her mother had also been raped in the process. Abigail had hidden amongst the rubble for the entire war, scavenging for food and shelter until Miranda found her. Miranda's motherly instincts had blossomed up after she found the girl and she couldn't leave the poor girl. Now, Miranda was still a survivor, she had been her entire life, and did use the situation of caring for the girl as a shield against any potential Alliance repercussions because of her status as a former Cerberus operative while Shepard had been unconscious and going in and out of surgery for over two weeks.

Later, as flight operations had been reestablished when more and more shuttles had been repaired, Miranda had cared for the shy girl first for a short time aboard the Orizaba as Miranda had also cared for Shepard, and later they had stayed aboard the Normandy for several months. In that time, Miranda had contemplated what to do with Abigail in the future, considering they were on a warship and would undoubtedly be called into action in the future. Miranda and Shepard had entertained the idea of adopting the girl but reasoned they didn't want Abigail to be on the Normandy when they were called into action, but they didn't want to just give up the girl to just about anyone or send her back to Earth.

Miranda had contemplated contacting Oriana's parents for some time and eventually she had been able to talk with Oriana's parents over Quantum Entanglement Communicator - which for most of the galaxy was the only way to communicate as the communications buoy network was destroyed. Miranda suggested that they could adopt the girl which the parent's promised they would consider. Months later when limited relay travel had been established in certain parts of the galaxy Oriana was able to meet her parents and Miranda again, and when the parents finally met Abigail they had instantly taken a liking for her and it hadn't taken long until Oriana's parents had decided to adopt Abigail. Abigail had been cautious, she was basically attached to Miranda's hip and didn't want to leave Miranda, but eventually it had all worked out well as the girl felt safe with the parents and Oriana.

Abigail was lucky finding refuge with Oriana's parents, not every child on Earth was so lucky.

"Abigail is so cute and adorable, I miss her to," Oriana gushed.

Oriana was looking forward seeing her parents and her new little sister who would all arrive later in the day, and Oriana was ecstatic they could all meet in one place and celebrate Christmas. Oriana's parents - Camellia and Keir – had worked for the Colonial Administration when they were young and eventually left for Illium to work with Baria Frontiers in the 2160s, using their colonization skills in the private sector. After Miranda had protected the family from Henry Lawson's reach in 2185 they had left for the human colony Constance before Oriana left for Horizon for her colonial apprenticeship.

On the onset of the Reaper War her parents had been evacuated to the asari colony Demetrias in the Attican Traverse near asari space where Camellia and Keir had offered their skills to the local government which gave them some perks like occasional access to a QEC. Oriana's parents had recently decided to return to the Alliance and had made arrangements to help with rebuilding Earth alongside their daughter on a space station, they had been separated from each other for too long and the parents wanted to be near Oriana. So after the victory and Christmas celebrations Oriana, Abigail and her parents would leave for Sol System, and Oriana was very ecstatic to finally be able to be with her parents again.

"She is," Mirand agreed. She received steady updates from Camellia about Abigail, and even if she was still traumatized she was happier than one year before. Camellia and Keir was doing wonders with the girl, they really loved her.

Oriana looked at Shepard with a smirk and faced Miranda and said teasingly, "I think John should wear a Santa hat on Christmas."

Miranda smiled amused with a glance at her man, "He certainly should."

"What?" Shepard asked nonplussed having things decided for him suddenly.

Oriana fawned, "Naw, you should, Abigail would love it."

Shepard relented with a shrug, "Well, for Abigail's sake I guess."

"Good," Oriana beamed. "I'll buy one later today."

Miranda reached out to squeeze Shepard's thigh lovingly, "You'll be a handsome Santa, dear."

Shepard chuckled, "Sure thing, babe."

* * *

Gunnery Sergeant Shyla Lovato strolled down a dull corridor in the main headquarters building of Forward Operating Base Miramar, the home of the 19th Marine Expeditionary Force, the planet contingent of MOB Pinnacle located a short distance from Thoreau Mesa where she had arrived two days earlier. The 19th MEF and the Sixth and Seventh Fleets stationed at MOB Pinnacle was an important centerpiece in the Alliance's power projection into the Attican Traverse and the Skyllian Verge, and they had been involved in the heavy fighting in those areas during the war.

Lovato wore a blue colored Alliance Battle Dress Uniform and was a tall thirty two year old woman with dark complexion and an athletic body and had had a chocolate brown curly hair and hazel eyes and was part Irish, part African, and part Puerto Rican. Lovato had been a Marine for twelve years and had graduated from the Recon Assessment and Selection Program eight years earlier and had since served with the 1st Marine Force Recon Regiment, rotating through the different battalions in numerous positions like rifleman, automatic rifleman, designated marksman/spotter, team leader, squad leader and VI/Remote Automation Guidance and Operations specialist.

And she was a L3 biotic. She had been exposed to element zero in utero during in a starship accident above her colony world, like so many other humans had been – and she was a bit skeptical that every incident had been an accident. She had been too young to attend Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training before it shut down, but had received specialized training provided by the Colonial Administration before she had been sent to the Ascension Project in the early seventies, and when she was eighteen she enlisted in the Marines.

The military welcomed biotics with open arms – after all the destructive potential of the skills was a force multiplier in combat operations which made officers salivate. Lovato was mildly amused about being almost likened to a piece of hardware, but outside the military the biotics faced prejudice by the rest of the human population who thought they were 'asari wannabes' and dangerous and violent all thanks to xenophobes and L2 biotic terrorists and insurgents. But compared to the grander human population human, biotics were so rare most would probably never meet one. This fear mongering was mostly pushed by Terra Firma in a way to attack those who favored integration with aliens – and oh did the new Terra Firma have an upswing in popularity after the war.

 _Assholes_.

Not that she was amused by the asari anymore, but the Terra Firma rhetoric was too simplistic and black and white. And something else that nagged her was the discrimination against human biotics, she was as much human as the rest and probably more patriotic than any Terra Firma asshole.

Lovato rounded a corner to a waiting lounge near her destination – a secure briefing room in the operations center of the massive complex. There was a large muted monitor in the corner, attached by a mount where a reporter was interviewing the new party leader Sian Auckland which made Lovato frown for a moment.

The lounge was a nondescript room which could have easily been mistaken for a civilian waiting lounge in an office building if it had not been for all the military styled paintings and pictures dotting the walls. Save for Lovato there were only two other people in the room, two men; two Staff Sergeants who both were seated separately – it was apparent that they didn't know each other.

The two Staff Sergeants greeted Lovata who outranked them and she gave them a friendly nod and sat down in an armchair and tried to relax. She surmised that the two other sergeants were probably here for the same reason. They also wore blue BDUs and there were no other insignias other than rank so she couldn't tell if they had any specialized ratings or training.

She had been informed a few weeks earlier by her company commander that she would be decorated during a special ceremony on Intai'sei and had also received special orders directly from Naval Command – the service combatant command that commanded all of the Alliance's military forces – to report to Fleet Admiral Hackett for further orders. And that was why she was at Miramar. She was bewildered because it was 'top-secret-eat-before-reading'-situation and all she had been told was that if she agreed to the special orders she would be attached to a different unit. She had mulled the decision for a few days and finally accepted, she didn't back down and was always eager when new opportunities arose even if it meant she had to leave her unit and friends who she had fought alongside during the Reaper War.

Out of morbid curiosity Lovato gave the TV a glance and punched in her omni-tool to wirelessly connect to the TV so she could hear the sound in her earpiece.

Auckland, a tall and muscular man, was speaking passionately and aggressive, _"...this just shows, Nina, that my predecessors in the party were right all along. And so were hundreds of scholars, veterans, doctors, teachers, business people and regular humans. Humanity cannot tie itself, its culture and security, to arrogant aliens. The Reaper War showed that the asari hid technologies that could have helped the galaxy, and they hid it so they could lord over the rest of the galaxy - over humans – because their Siarist theology dictates that the asari are the 'chosen' race of the galaxy. And thanks to them tens of billions - if not more - died across the galaxy, and not just humans, aliens to. Humanity needs to be strong for everyone, even for the aliens."_

 _"But Fleet Admiral Hackett have echoed similar thoughts as well-"_

Auckland abruptly cut her off, _"Hackett is a courageous and strong human - I respect him immensely for what he did in the war, but the military emergency government_ _is still too soft."_ He scoffed, _"Inviting asari and salarian representatives to ceremonies honoring our brave human soldiers. Humanity has to set the agenda for our sake. Come January first, when the campaigns for parliament start, Terra Firma will start our journey to make humanity strong."_

Parliamentarian elections was supposed to be held in September 2188, and mere shadows of the political parties were scrambling to fill their tickets with qualified names, so there were uncertainties if elections could be held due to lack of politicians, plus a lot of human colonies were still cut off from the Systems Alliance as Pathfinder teams were scrambling to reach remote mass relays. It would take years before the galaxy wide mass relays were connected again. Having elections this soon was probably wishful thinking, but the military desperately wanted to wash away allegations of authoritarian military dictatorship being thrown around by some, allegations dissidents in the Outer Colonies had presented for over twenty years.

Xeno bigotry and human ethnocentrism exploded in the wake of the First Contact War, which was followed by the uneven wealth distribution from interstellar resources favoring Earth and the Inner Colonies, plus growing fears of an unchecked and ever growing Alliance military, which made many other humans feel marginalized and threatened by government overreach and the newfound aliens. This made humans flee to the Attican Traverse and what would later be known as the Outer Colonies. The Alliance had a strained relationship at best with the Outer Colonies, and at worst it was a full on counter insurgency campaign in response to when any Outer Colony insurgents attacked Alliance civilians in terrorist attacks in the name of seeking independence from Alliance laws and regulations . Despite any rightful reprisals at legitimate targets, it never looked good in the media when the military was killing fellow humans in space.

And the insurgency would likely ignite again with marginalized groups fighting over resources, and considering how the war was fought towards the end. The plight of many planets had regretfully been ignored because the military was either tied up fighting elsewhere, focusing on building the Crucible, or leaving planets as a way to stall and buy times while the Reapers slowly whittled down their defenses and started the DNA processing. And this was nothing unique for humans, the other Citadel races fought the war with similar tactics and were facing dissent amongst their own disenfranchised.

 _"We're still part of the Citadel Council, Mr. Auckland,"_ the reporter insisted. _"And Alliance representatives have been invited to victory celebrations at the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union."_

Auckland leaned forward and frowned, _"And as much as I respect Admiral Hackett for being a warrior, I have to question why he's allowing expat asari and salarians to join the ranks of our military and a promise for Alliance citizenship?"_ He scolded, _"They aren't humans!"_

 _"Well, there's been plenty of aliens in the past that got Alliance citizenship for one reason and the other,"_ the reporter explained professionally. _"And many asari and salarians joined us and the turians against the Reapers because they felt appalled by their governments stalling."_

 _"So they're marginally better than their governments?"_ Auckland dismissed with a snort.

Lovato almost scoffed out loud and shut down the audio feed. She couldn't stand the loudmouth.

But as much as she loathed the man she couldn't deny the fact that the asari government had hidden information and technologies that could have ended the war earlier...or maybe stopping it from ever starting. And then there were the salarians, who had also refused aid to other races in their moments of need. And those two races had the gall to be obstinate?

So many people had needlessly died in the war because of asari hubris. Because of indoctrinated Cerberus. Because of politicians stalling. Because of Alliance inactions. Because of questionable tactics.

She had lost her beloved parents and younger brothers and their families who had all been killed when the Reapers attacked the colony Archimedes in the 18 Scorpii System, the family had been part of the first colonization wave in the early 2150s and she had been born there. Lovato had lived in uncertainty for months, fighting Reapers and occasionally Cerberus, and clung to hope that her family somehow had been spared when the Reapers had been culling the planet for husks. But 4.5 million people had been slaughtered. It was only after the war she learned the truth, when a small task force of Navy ships had travelled the 45.3 light years to Archimedes to find a desolate graveyard of Reapers and husks with a few hundred formerly indoctrinated survivors who struggled to survive and still had their minds intact and were distraught by what they had done to their neighbors, friends and loved ones.

Lovato had to press on and kept herself busy working, and no matter how dull of a task it kept her sane most of the time, but when she was alone for long periods of time she cried. She felt so helpless most of the time, and the only belonging she had was the Marine Forces. She still didn't know what to do, it was just too painful.

So the decoration she was awarded the other night felt pretty hollow.

She glanced at the two other Sergeants, "You're here to meet the Fleet Admiral?"

One of the Marines, a Latino Staff Sergeant in his early thirties with brown skin and a standard buzzcut, replied, "Yes, Gunny."

The man was tall and evenly muscled. He had brown piercing eyes, and there was something in his eyes that told you he had seen horrible things. By the sound of his accent, Lovato guessed he hailed from the Pacific Coast of the United North American States. Likely around Los Angeles. Definitely southern California. Lovato had dated a Latino from that area once and recognized the dialect.

The other Staff Sergeant, a thirty-something Caucasian nodded with a tinge of Eastern European accent, "Yeah."

Lovato couldn't place the Eastern European's accent though. He was thinner and shorter than the Latino, with brown hair and had high Slavic cheekbones and eyes.

"Gunny, were you told anything?" the Eastern European asked curiously.

Lovato shook her head, "Not much other than if I accepted the new orders I would be transferred to a new unit."

The Eastern European nodded, "Yep, me to."

"Units?" Lovato asked. She revealed, "First Recon Regiment, Second Battalion, Foxtrot Company."

"Raider," the Latino simply said.

Lovato concluded quickly that the man was rather coy. And being a Raider meant he was part of MARSOC; Raider was the nickname for Marine Special Operators.

"Recon as well," the Eastern European replied. "Third Recon Regiment, Third Battalion, Alpha Company."

Lovato smiled, "Swift, Silent, Deadly."

"Semper fi, Gunny," the Eastern European grinned. As the man smiled his eyes became slits because of his high cheekbones.

The door to the briefing room opened and a General stood in the doorway, she was dressed in dress blues with numerous ribbons on her chest including the oval black Joint Special Operations Command Badge with golden wreaths on the edges and a spear in the middle - indicating she worked for the secretive unified combatant command overseeing humanity's special operations forces. On her left shoulder she had an N7-rating patch, indicating she had been awarded the highest Skill Identifier from MARSOC's Interplanetary Combatives Training course, and on her chest she also had the Special Warfare Insignia awarded to MARSOC operators. The insignia depicted an eagle with its wings outspread and clutching a dagger in its claws, and behind the eagle was an image of Earth within the reach of its outstretched wings. Underneath the eagle there was a banner carrying MARSOC's official motto 'Always Faithful, Always Forward.'

"Officer on deck," Lovato announced.

The three noncommissioned officers rose up to attention and saluted the General who returned the salute.

"Stand easy," the General instructed. "You can come in," the General gestured for them.

The three sergeants walked over to the officer.

Lovato was curious why a high ranking MARSOC officer was there. With a Marine Special Operator already present, the three were likely not going to be asked to join MARSOC, she knew the command had taken a huge blow during the war. And she doubted a JSOC General would take any personal interest in future Marine Special Operators.

This was something else.

The three sergeants walked past the General into a well lit room with a long conference table in the middle of the room and with Fleet Admiral Hackett standing at the far end.

"Welcome, people," Hackett greeted.

The three sergeants greeted respectfully and stood at attention and saluted Hackett who rendered a salute as well.

"Take a seat over here," Hackett instructed as he himself sat down.

The sergeants approached and each took a seat on the long side of the table on Hackett's left side while the General walked over and sat down on the right long side of the Admiral.

"I'm Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett," the Admiral said. He gestured to the other officer, "This is General Marion Austin, JSOC commanding officer."

All three noncommissioned officers obviously already knew who Hackett was, and that they were already going to meet him. Most humans knew of him as he was not only commanding humanity's military, but was also the temporary human leader.

Hackett looked at Lovato and asked friendly, "Is everything alright with you, Gunny? Did you enjoy last night?"

"Very much so, yes, sir," Lovato replied diplomatically. "But I kept the drinks at a minimum considering this meeting." She hadn't been much for partying at all because it was difficult to enjoy an evening with her family losses on her mind.

"Good, good," Hackett replied satisfied. "Now, we're going to cut right to it why you are here. Our species, and the galaxy, have just been through hell and back. Humanity is in shambles, there's no denying that and we're hard pressed at rebuilding both society and the military – we're facing many threats, people, and we need the best for certain situations."

Austin chimed in evenly, "You're under no obligations to accept this mission, but if you decline you're going to have to sign additional NDAs and be excused from the room."

Hackett continued, "Your records show you are capable troops, and that is what we need. We're standing up several small Expeditionary Targeting Forces that will for the beginning be attached to stealth frigates for direct action and intelligence gathering missions. With the threats we're facing you could be fighting anything from human insurgents, batarian pirate remnants and Terminus mercenaries."

"Anybody not up for it?" Austin inquired, looking directly at the three Marines.

Nobody said a word. Despite coming from different units, one thing was certain, special operations troops didn't turn down an assignment, they all had volunteered for everything since selection and training. They weren't turning down this assignment.

Hackett nodded appreciatively, "Good. That seals that, people. You will be assigned to Task Force Normandy under Commander Shepard."

Lovato was surprised, she wasn't expecting that Commander Shepard would be her commanding officer.

The Eastern European was visibly surprised and a faint 'whoa' was barely heard.

Lovato could have sworn at Hackett smiled, it was like a twitch at the lips. But one thing she did notice was that the Raider Staff Sergeant didn't react. Higher security clearance? Did he already know?

"We're expecting you to think on your feet, "Hackett continued. "There are still a lot of areas in the galaxy where communications and the relay systems are down – and there are countless colonies we haven't reached yet and we don't know if they're utterly destroyed or not. Normandy-class frigates carry Tactical Operational Satellites, and when deployed one of the TopSats many functions are that it can be used as a mini communications buoy, so you're not all cut off if your missions take you deep into the galaxy. And another thing to keep in mind, intelligence is very patchy, that's why you're going to be out there as well; you will be collecting intelligence for us." Hackett said with dull annoyance, "I wish I could prepare you more thoroughly."

The Eastern European chimed in cautiously, "Sir? The Normandy…is that where that ex-Cerberus woman is?"

That little detail hadn't escaped many once media had learned about Commander Shepard's paramour; a black ops seducer. Lovato remained stoic, but she loathed Cerberus. The human supremacists were traitors and had committed horrible war crimes, and Cerberus remnants still remained at large and were actively being hunted by everyone. Just like the Nazis over two hundred years earlier, all ruthless bigots to the core and believing in the message of their organization, they had defected and surrendered for pardons once the writing was on the wall. Was that why the Cerberus woman had switched sides?

The next part bothering Lovato was how closely tied Cerberus had been with human society…that it had been part of the Alliance intelligence community. They had been a fucking black ops Alliance organization, and now the Alliance was desperately trying to wash away the filth in the eyes of the rest of the galaxy, ruthlessly taking down any Cerberus pockets they encountered…yet some defectors had been recruited.

All that was way over her paygrade.

Hackett leaned forward and replied calmly, "Sergeant Kowalski, I trust Commander Shepard's judgment. JSOC trusts him. AIS trusts him. He trusts Miranda Lawson. It's that simple, but yeah, she's there. She defected from Cerberus in -85, and she deployed with the Normandy during the war. But I would lie to you if I said that it didn't cause a ruckus within NAVCOM last year, we were wary, but as the war progressed it was apparent she was no threat to the mission. She serves as intelligence officer on the Normandy."

But they did keep an eye on what she was doing with her newly granted credentials and what she had access to. Hackett trusted Shepard's judgment, but the Lawson woman had still been Cerberus once. Despite having granted her immunity, caution was the word guiding Hackett, NAVCOM, AIS and JSOC when it came to Miranda Lawson.

"We don't consider her a threat," Austin pointed out.

"Aye-aye," Kowalski simply said.

Hackett looked at the Marines, "You will have the Christmas holidays free; hit the town, get drunk do whatever, but on Thursday you're expected to report to the Normandy. Your personal belongings will be brought to the ship and you will receive further instructions when you have reported to Shepard."

Lovato wanted to ask why she had been picked. Why had this Staff Sergeant Kowalski been picked? She could understand the Raider, but why Recon Marines for black operations? She hated all the secrecy and compartmentalization. As a Recon Marine she had realized very quickly that spook work was a headache and better left for the professionals and hardcore operators in MARSOC or the Alliance Intelligence Service. The majority of the games played were not even related to the objective but instead towards maintaining secrecy.

But how hard could spook stuff be? Recon Marines could do anything, for her it was just about the right mindset – a warrior's state of mind.

Austin activated in her omni-tool and punched some buttons.

"I'm sending you each an information packet with additional information," Austin informed. "You are expected to report to the Navy desk at the Tianlong Tether port, the Normandy is docked to the tether in space. Understood?"

"Aye, aye, ma'am," the three Marines replied in unison as their own omni-tools chirped when the devices received the information.

"Alright if there are no more questions, you are dismissed," Hackett said. "Direct any questions to Austin if you have them. Contact information in the packet."

The three sergeants rose to their feet and saluted the two flag officers who saluted back, and the sergeants duly left the room.

"Damn," Kowalski said astonished when the door closed behind them. "Commander Shepard, who knew, huh?" He smiled friendly as the two other Marines turned to face him, "Walter Kowalski, by the way."

The Marines shook hands and introduced themselves.

"Shyla Lovato."

"Alberto Rico." He continued casually, "Yeah, Shep's a pretty cool dude."

Lovato frowned and looked at Rico confused, "What, you know him?"

"Yeah, we served in 3rd Battalion, Charlie Company in the late seventies."

"How is he?" Lovato asked.

Rico smiled, "Shep was a blast. He's pretty funny and laid back, and we called him Disney or Mickey because he watched so many Disney vids. The entire team, top to bottom, was the best I ever served with. We were deployed here on Typhoon Station for Operation Rhino against the batarians, and the comradery really helped."

"No fucking way," Kowalski exclaimed surprised.

"Yeah, Shep requested for me for this rotation," Rico simply said. "He was my Team Leader at the time. We had graduated the same ICT class in -78." He mused quietly, "Haven't seen him years, lots of shit have happened since last time."

Lovato asked, "So what do you think about this ex-Cerberus woman?"

Rico faced Lovato, "Well, Gunny, I cannot deny that it has been a long time since I last saw him and a lot have happened, it's a very curious situation, I cannot deny that. But the Alliance trusts him – you heard them in there. I trust Shepard to."

"Curious indeed," Lovato pondered. There was a beat, "Well, guys, what are your plans for the holidays?"

* * *

Shepard sat next to Miranda and Oriana on a long bench at the crowded and spacious waiting area at the Thoreau Mesa spaceport, dotted with busy stores and restaurants. They were waiting for Oriana's parent as their commercial space shuttle had landed earlier. The Christmas holidays were going to be spent with Oriana, her parents and little Abigail, and it would be a nice change of pace and relaxation considering the Normandy and the crew would start work ups after the holidays for the upcoming deployment. Shepard needed to get the ground and aviation teams up to speed so they could conduct operations together, and finally getting everybody acquainted with each other. He had a lot on his plate so he looked forward to the Christmas and Victory Day celebrations.

He actually had a family now, Miranda and Oriana were the closest ones, and Camellia and Keir with little Abigail was slowly beginning to turn out to be an extended family for him, and also Miranda.

Small fortunes like that did a lot in a dreary post-war galaxy.

Both Miranda and Shepard had met Camellia and Keir properly when they had introduced Abigail and reunited Oriana with them a few short months earlier when more and more of space had opened up.

Oriana's parents had been skeptical about Miranda, stemming back to when she had introduced herself to Oriana on the Nos Astra spaceport. There had been too many question marks regarding Miranda for the parents, they never liked the secrecy about this unknown woman coupled with the shock of the relation between the sisters once Miranda had produced evidence. They had grudgingly accepted Miranda in Oriana's life as Oriana had been very excited about having an older sister. When Oriana had been kidnapped both parents had been scared, angry and vivid for two weeks with no word about Oriana. They had been grateful that Miranda had gotten their daughter back, but they were still resigned and concerned about the older sister. Miranda, being very private, didn't want Oriana to say anything about her association with Cerberus, mostly concerning security concerns as her identity wasn't a known commodity until the war's end.

There had been media interest in her considering she had been seen with Shepard, and a former target had survived the war and had recognized her and thus told the media about his sordid night with her, for a hefty paycheck no doubt. Oriana's parents heard about this and it didn't put any concern to rest so Miranda allowed Oriana to finally come clean about her older sister. That she had been a clandestine operative with Cerberus for so many years had not done many wonders for the parents, but that Shepard was engaged to her and trusted her did smooth things over for the two parents so they moved forward and accepted that Miranda would be around Oriana who seemingly loved her older sister very much and wanted a relationship with her. It also helped that Miranda had taken care of Abigail for so long before the parents had agreed to adopt her, so the parents were slowly warming up to Miranda.

Oriana looked at her omni-tool and the haptic clock readout she activated.

"It's taking so long," Oriana complained.

Miranda said considerate, "Passport control and everything, it takes time with so many people coming and going, honey. Intai'sei is one of the few major Alliance colonies that are untouched." Miranda put an arm around her sister and squeezed her lovingly.

Intai'sei had been lucky surviving the war unscathed. But even so the atmosphere on Intai'sei was a peculiar mix of dread, bewilderment and elation, but on most other planets that had been destroyed by the Reapers and later liberated by the Alliance the atmosphere was a lot worse as survivors squatted in the ruins and the mud trying to rebuild and survive. And on the more organized planets the survivors had setup detention camps and imprisoned surviving indoctrinated that weren't catatonic. The formerly indoctrinated were suffering with guilt and fear after their horrendous acts on the behalf of the Reapers, and during several months of isolation from the rest of the galaxy those camps were the stuff of horror movies were the imprisoned were subject to beatings, torture, rape, starvation, forced labor and barbaric public executions in misplaced anger and revenge. And those horrors were repeated across the galaxy no matter the race. It hadn't been like the newsreels from historic wars – or even as recently as the Eden Prime War – where people had been dancing in the streets, hoisting flags and running out to hug and kiss the troops. The survivors were just beaten down and the atmosphere was somber.

"I know," Oriana deflated and shut down her omni-too. "It's just that I miss them. And I look forward to the weekend."

Shepard assured gently, "We do to, Ori."

Oriana smiled giddily and looked at the couple, "I'm so excited for those sticky honey things with sprinkles!"

"What?" Shepard frowned confused.

Miranda looked at Oriana confused as well.

"It's Christmas," Oriana explained. "It's time for the sticky honey things with sprinkles dad makes. You know. You put it on the table during coffee and everyone just picks at it for the next few hours?"

Miranda chimed in nonplussed, "What are you talking about?"

"You've never had the sticky honey things with sprinkles?" Oriana asked as if Shepard and Miranda were idiots.

"Uh, it sounds like it's something your father makes?" Shepard asked nonplussed. "A family tradition?"

Miranda frowned and asked, "Are you sure it's not an asari thing? Illium and everything?"

Oriana shrugged, "I guess…"

Oriana realized how incredible different her worldview was compared to Miranda's and Shepard's worldview.

Oriana looked into the crowd to the terminal further down the waiting area and saw her parents and Abigail emerge from the passport control terminal. The eleven year old little girl had a backpack on her while Camellia and Keir carried travel bags in each hand with their belongings. Both parents were fairly tall and were in their early fifties and in good health, looking twenty years younger. Camellia had long dark hair and similar to her daughter, even though there was no blood relation, she had a bit curvy form, while Keir had curly black hair and sported a full beard.

It didn't take long until Abigail spotted Oriana, Miranda and Shepard, and lit up. She ran across the large hall and her dark hair flowed in her wake.

"They're here," Oriana said happily and rose to her feet and walked forward.

Abigail squealed happily, "Oriana!"

Abigail bumped into Oriana and wrapped around Oriana's waist who knelt down so the two could embrace properly.

Shepard and Miranda had already left their seats and smiled at the reunion.

Miranda smiled endearingly as she was happy that the little British girl was doing much better, which she already knew as both Shepard and she had constant contact with both parents and Abigail. Abigail still suffered the loss of her biological parents, and missed them dearly. She had nightmares, and didn't want to be alone for long and did cry at times, but she was a bit happier and open to people, which warmed Miranda's heart.

Abigail soon let go of Oriana and rushed to Shepard who knelt down and they hugged. Abigail quickly let go and rushed a kneeling Miranda and the two embraced. Abigail didn't let go of her rescuer and held on tightly and wrapped around Miranda.

"Hey, honey," Miranda said softly and rose up with the girl in her arms.

"I missed you," Abigail professed emotional, wrapping her lags around Miranda to keep herself in place.

"I missed you to," Miranda replied affected.

Her motherly instincts had blossomed up in London when she found the girl, and they blossomed up now as well. She was so proud over Abigail who was very strong willed and brave having survived the horror of the war in London. Hiding from husks and indoctrinated while scavenging for food.

Shepard stood next to Miranda and stroked Abigail's soft hair.

"Our brave little girl," Shepard said fondly.

"Yes, she is," Miranda agreed and cleared her throat. So many emotions were welling up inside her now, but she kept it together and blinked her eyes as she was on the brink to cry. Having Abigail clinging to her reminded her how attached the girl had been to her, rarely leaving her side for months.

"You think so?" Abigail asked emotional and looked at Shepard. Her eyes were watery and she was on the brink of crying as well, mostly out of joy seeing Shepard and Miranda who had cared warmly for her, but she was still a scarred little girl.

"You're braver than Miranda and me," Shepard assured Abigail.

Abigail smiled and squeezed Miranda and rested her head on Miranda's shoulder.

Oriana had already intercepted her parents and had an emotional meeting as the three embraced, all happy to finally be reunited again, and happy to be able to stay together now and rebuild their lives. They had been separated from each other far too long. The parents collected their bags again and walked with Oriana back to the others.

Oriana was smiling happily as she had all her beloved ones gathered in one place.

Shepard offered his hand to the parents and greeted friendly, "Hi, good to see you again. Welcome to dusty Thoreau Mesa."

"Thank you, Commander Shepard," Keir greeted friendly and dropped his bags before shaking Shepard's hand.

"Oh, please don't call me that," Shepard laughed amused. "It sounds to official. John is fine. I've already told you that."

"Alright, John it is then," Camellia said and had dropped her own bags and shook Shepard's hand. "We'll try, but please forgive us if we stray and call you 'Commander.'"

"No worries," Shepard smiled.

Even if the parents had already met Shepard before, it was strange for both parents to be in the presence of Shepard – humanity's hero. The galaxy's hero. They couldn't fathom that they would be celebrating Christmas with Commander Shepard of all people. It was a bit surreal for them. Despite that they were a bit conflicted about Shepard, regardless of his accolades. The parents didn't harbor much love for Batarians – decades of pirate and mercenary raids against humanity painted a grim picture of the entire race – but the destruction of Bahak System and the hundreds of thousands of dead in the aftermath was a bit disconcerting for them to, as neither of them liked violence, even if the Alliance's reasons given for the destruction of the system's relay appeared just. But they could not deny that he was a charming, fun and nice young man, and their daughter liked him very much. In the end the parents had come to accept that nobody was perfect, and in the light of the Reaper War, some regrettable decisions had to be made. That they were alive was in no small parts because of the sacrifices made by men and women like Shepard.

Miranda was a bit occupied with Abigail in her arms so she couldn't shake any hands but greeted warmly as well, "Good day. How was the trip?"

Out of love to Oriana and Abigail, Miranda wanted to have a working relationship with Camellia and Keir, because they were going to be part of her extended family now. She also knew that Camellia and Keir were good people, she had after all secretly handpicked them to adopt Oriana over twenty years earlier, and they had done wonders with Oriana as they had given her a great life with a lot of love, exactly what Miranda had lacked but what she wanted Oriana to have. She also knew they would show Abigail the same love and care. Although all this was new territory for her, she was a bit uncomfortable, but to set her mind at ease she treated it as an assignment.

"Long and dull, much longer than we're used to," Keir replied. "I'm not used to this, with the damage to the relays and how it has slowed down relay powered travel." He shrugged resigned, "I guess it's something we've to get used to."

The trip from Demetrias to Intai'sei had taken twelve days instead of the regular six days a trip of that length would have taken before the war.

"Thank the Goddess for quite spacious family sleeping bays," Camellia said relived, showing her roots from Illium and that like Oriana, she adhered to the siari beliefs as well.

"Sorry if you had to wait for long," Keir apologized. "The biosecurity and decontamination took forever. They take that stuff seriously here."

"They do that everywhere," Miranda explained. "No worries."

Oriana interjected enthusiastically, "I love having all you here together. We're going to have a great Christmas."

Keir put an arm around his daughter and hugged her close, "I'm sure we will, honey." He kissed her hair and Oriana beamed and hugged him back.

"Dad?" Oriana asked and let go of her father. "Can you make those sticky honey things with sprinkles?"

Keir laughed fondly and kissed her lush hair, "Yes, dear."

Abigail was interested about the topic, "We're gonna make cookies?"

Oriana's face lit up and she faced Abigail, "Yes we are." She teased, "But Randa can't help us because she can't bake at all."

Miranda frowned, "Quiet." Her retort wasn't mean spirited, but her dear sister always found a way to tease her.

"Really?" Abigail giggled in Miranda's arms.

"Yes. One time she was going to make sponge cake for John but burned two cakes and had to call me so I assisted over vidchat."

Abigail faced Miranda and giggled, "You did?"

"Yes," Miranda sighed dull. She lamented that the perfect woman with an expensive PhD in Biomedical Engineering couldn't even bake properly. Miranda looked at a gleeful Abigail and shook her head with a faint smile, if Abigail was happy she was fine being teased by Oriana.

Shepard chimed in to be kind, "But the cake she made at the end was great."

Oriana beamed, "Thanks to me!"

Camellia was amused and asked John, "No easy access to bakery for you, John?"

Shepard quipped, "No, but I still love her." He gave Miranda a fond look and Miranda smiled back.

Camellia faced her husband and kissed his cheek affectionately, "Well, this man knows his way around a kitchen so I'm a lucky woman. Good food, cakes and cookies whenever I want."

"Always, honey," Keir smiled.

Camellia frowned concerned and faced the others, "Although, I have to double my time at the gym obviously." She shrugged and smiled, "A minor inconvenience."

"Well, then it's settled," Oriana said enthused. "Dad and I will make some great pastry for Christmas." She faced Abigail, "And you will help, okay?"

"Yes," Abigail giggled enthusiastically.

Miranda simply said, "The hotel rooms don't have a kitchen."

Oriana frowned and thought for a moment, "Well, we'll improvise somehow."

"We're space lagged like you cannot believe it," Camellia laughed. "We need to wind down a bit and adjust before any major adventures."

"Well, we have a car outside so let's get to the hotel," Shepard offered and gestured for the exit.

The parents picked up their bags, and Oriana took one as well and the group navigated through the masses of people coming and going.

* * *

 ** _Thanks to EbabahCussiEnoImreh for ideas on; parts of Miranda's thoughts on Christmas; inspiration for Lovato's thoughts on being a biotic; Rico's paragraph talking about Shepard, the nicknames and their first deployment._**

 ** _The next chapter will be a bit more action packed and will set the stage for the storyline._**


End file.
